


Because She's The Strongest In The World!

by Daawnily



Category: Fate/Grand Order, 乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった… - 山口悟 | My Next Life as a Villainess - Yamaguchi Satoru (Light Novels), 乙女ゲームの破滅フラグしかない悪役令嬢に転生してしまった… | My Next Life as a Villainess (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Out of Character, Post-Chaldea Servants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 128,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27423634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daawnily/pseuds/Daawnily
Summary: To survive her impending doom, Katarina Claes reaches out into the unknown and finds herself many more wonderful friends, companions and trainers through which she will become the most invincible "villainess" in the world!...As if you need to worry with friends like these.AKA what happens when you summon heroic spirits without any rhyme or reason.
Relationships: Katarina Claes/Everyone, Katarina Claes/Leonardo Da Vinci | Rider, Katarina Claes/Mochizuki Chiyome
Comments: 263
Kudos: 201





	1. Prologue

_Dying was odd_. Somehow, it was this exact line of thinking that flew through my mind as the aforementioned process was happening to me at the very instant, I really should have looked around before crossing that roa…

I couldn’t finish that sentence, before consciousness failed me. I jolted awake from my nightmare, with a heavy breath I looked around trying to make ends meet in my head, where was I, what was going on…

As I relax, memories flood back into their places – I am Lady Katarina Claes, this is my room in the Claes family mansion. Everything is as it should be, or rather as it should be now – that my previous life was over for good.

No, wait… that was a bad choice of words – it isn’t over for good, it was in fact impossibly difficult to let go – as the nightmares would signify. Trying to let go of everything, my old family, Acchan, the sense of normalcy of the old world – was a bitter process, one which sometimes made me think if I just made it all up in my head. Insane loony girl Katarina… huh, I wish it was that simple.

I let out a tired sigh, feeling slightly parched I got out of the bed ever so sneakily, trying not to make any further noise – it was late enough where even the ever dutiful Anne was asleep, waking her up was the last thing I wanted to do, thank you very much.

Once I’m out of bed, I sneak out of my room and towards the kitchen – to get that sweet, sweet cup of water. Ah, if only...

* * *

“My lady, what exactly are you doing?” Anne asked, observing as Katarina was pouring water out of the pitcher right into the watering can, obviously the maid had a working set of eyes and saw exactly what Katarina was doing, but she felt it was important to ask.

“I am testing a theory! Drinking water is much cleaner than the water I usually use for my garden, so surely it will have a positive effect on it… and my earth magic! I can feel it!” claimed Katarina, as she poured the entire pitcher in.

* * *

In hindsight, not the smartest idea even for me – drinkable water took a while to prepare, without massive purification facilities of the modern society, even in a relatively advanced Sorcier it was at times difficult to acquire enough of it. What piping has been in use, was for water which was not considered drinkable and while, it could do in a pinch… yeah, yuk.

Of course there was also magic, but who would want to serve as a glorified water fountain? Besides, magic wasn’t exactly a thing of abundance… Maybe I should have just risked my mother's ire and asked Anne to refill the pitcher. Ah well, too late now. Gosh, can I be pretty dense at times, huh.

Having finally reached the kitchen, I realized it must be indeed quite late, everyone was asleep out of the mansion staff, even the cooks who usually would take shifts to have everything ready around the clock. Well, that’s fine with me – having found a fitting enough cup I fill it to the brim and head outside through the kitchen door.

With my lukewarm prize in hand I sat down at the bench placed in front of the kitchen window, it was technically reserved for large objects being moved between the kitchen and the small storage area, but it was clean enough to sit – so why not.

A peaceful night greets me with a view of seemingly millions of stars – something I never really got to see back home, light pollution be damned. As my chain of thoughts starts to go into the darker places, I shake my head gently and look around the moonlit estate.

“This is my home now. It has my family. Mother, Father, Kieth… Anne and others. Life is good.” It was hard trying to convince myself of something I knew already, after all – despite being born a villain Katarina Claes truly was someone blessed, both in this and the previous life.

I take another sip of water as I ponder, what did I do to deserve being born in a loving family not once, but twice. What made me so special to be reborn in another world, surely that’s not something that just happens to everybody. No, it can’t be.

[Putting down my cup I look up higher into the sky](https://i.imgur.com/eh0F778.png), thinking... maybe there _was_ some invisible force looking out for me. Maybe, I do not need to worry over my doom? Maybe, it would just sort itself out… but I quickly shake off those thoughts, no – my impending doom… that’s just the hand I’ve been dealt to in this life. Something to fight against, as a payment or perhaps a trial to prove myself worthy of this opportunity – this blessing.

Truly, I have been fortunate. To say otherwise would be… ridiculous. I messed up and died as a result. And what fate had to say to that? “Oh, too bad sweaty dear, here, have another life and it just so happens in a world where you can plan around future hardships. Totally being fair and unbiased here.”

I pick up the cup and finish what little was left in it, thinking further – if I muck this up, even those “forces that be” aren’t gonna be happy. I can’t lose it all again. I can’t mess it up again. I have to be strong, charming, smart, hard working, I need to be a better me.

Next comes a sigh of frustration – as much good as all that brings me. I’d like to think my hard work was paying off, but my garden wasn’t doing too well and my magic wasn’t improving much. Was that just a side effect of being a villainess? Irritatingly low speed of learning?

I pout into nothingness, selfish thoughts filling my head as I wish everything was even easier than it already was! Truly I am a villainess that can’t be sated, gah, I wish life was like a video game and I could just pull anything out of my …

With that thought, I freeze. Clearly, in real life – having overpowered abilities which you just pull out from thin air is just not something that happens. But currently, I am in a world based on a video game. Oh my god, how dense am I, truly.

I panic, as realization sinks in – what if there are other worlds, based on other settings and franchises, what if there IS unlimited sources of power, just ready to be tapped into, if one just looked! 

Could… could I perhaps do that? In my old life, obviously I couldn’t for a simple reason – there was no magic whatsoever, but here… I had magic! That's out to count for something!

Could I perhaps reach out to the mystical force from the galaxy far far away? Or perhaps delve into the depths of alchemy, or maybe, maybe…

Countless possibilities rush through my severely tired head, each one sabotaging another dozen. Only when the first beams of sunlight hit me right in the eyes, ow, do I realize I need to head back. As I sneak back, or rather – “sneakily” run back before someone finds out I was out of bed the whole night – another realization hit me, I need to write ALL of this down!

The faint hope blossoms, if even one of these countless ideas works, I’ll be in a clear for sure, I will be able to mow down any doom flag in my way and live a comfortable life, or at least a version of it. Just you wait, doom – I am going to show you what an isekai character can pull out of their _secret backspace!_

I blink, as the last two words cross my mind. Huh. It seems mother training was not completely in vain, then.

Ah well, secret backspace doesn’t sound too bad anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this prologue we start a journey which will last - ah, approximately until I have motivation to write this, to be completely honest.  
> I will be rather bland here: I have never wrote a fanfiction work before, nor am I particularly good at writing, but some ideas are just worth writing down I feel and this one struck to me really well and motivated me to pick up the pen, so to say - for the first time in my life like that.
> 
> So that out of the way, here’s a few extra notes:
> 
> * Feel free to say whatcha think straight up, I know this isn’t the best thing since sliced bread and I’ll take most suggestions to heart if you have any.
> 
> * This really isn’t meant to be that difficult of an adventure for Katarina, for those unaware of the workings of Fate, Heroic Spirits are literally gods compared to normal humans. Nothing in Sorcier can touch them, apart from the strongest types of magic. Now mind, I have things planned to work around that - mostly Katarina comically not realising she could just ask any of her future companions to steamroll through any issue plaguing her.
> 
> * I'm mostly doing this for fun. As such, the story is mostly non canon compliant and I might throw a bunch of random things which I find fun or fitting.
> 
> * I will try to provide an illustration with each chapter, as I am currently studying art - the fanfic writing process itself actually motivates me to draw and vice versa, so I consider this a win.
> 
> And that’s it! <3


	2. Chapter 1 - Into the Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes to get somewhere, you need to take a step into the unknown. Sometimes, there are people who wish to help you do that - whether you want them to do so or not.

Several days and many an awkward moment later, Katarina was officially reaching her wits end. It was embarrassing enough to experiment on her own, but with Kieth and Anne taking interest in her strange behavior, more so than usual - she was pretty much under constant observation. 

Said constant observation meant difficult questions, which in turn were rather difficult to answer, at least without sounding like a psycho or just straight up having to tell them the whole truth. Obviously telling them everything was an express ticket to exile, so Katarina had to improvise.

“This is dumb! Gah! Something has to work, right? Surely with so many works of fiction to bother power and inspiration from, something has to work?” Katarina would pace around her room, a slight nervous tic getting to her. She refused to believe this world, as told by the game she knew so well, was the only one of the kind, but the more she thought about it the more like a conspiracy theory all of this sounded. 

And as if her fruitless search wasn’t quite enough, Katarina also managed to land herself into being grounded for the whole day with a sweet ban of three days tacked on top of it! Something about her “Three second rule” being made up nonsense, as well as being extremely unladylike and just plain disgusting. Well, she wasn’t letting perfectly fine sweets go to waste, sorry, Mother. Just a shame about the punishment.

Having finally exhausted her youthful energy for the moment, Katarina sat down onto her bed and reached for her journal, she kept a close record of everything she tried so far, as to not repeat herself. She held no disillusions about her forgetfulness – she didn’t wish to waste any more time than necessary on repeats. 

Sadly, her rare meticulous streak looked good on paper, but yielded no results . Worst of all, she was starting to have suspicions about the culprit of the lackluster results in her experimentation - a rather obvious one, her mana pool. 

Some things she tried probably could have worked, if she had more magical prowess. Of course she had no strict evidence – but she noticed patterns of exhaustion which did not line up at all, so much so she started writing those down too. 

The young girl started going through the list one more time, hoping for some archaic Otaku wisdom to grace her, until a soft knock on the door brought her back into the real world, away from her ponderings and frustrations. 

“Come on in” Katarina would reply without hesitation, it was most likely either Kieth or Anne with her snacks, she was grounded, yes - but thankfully this was no solitary confinement.

“Hello, big sis. How are you holding up?” asked Kieth upon entering the room, indeed bearing some live saving snacks - nothing sweet as per her punishment, but still mouth watering. 

“Ah, I’m doing well, thank you. Sorry for setting Mother off, again” Katarina answered, noting the look of slight concern, a look she noticed more often as of late - no doubt her recent routine has been bothering him. Ah Kieth, you are the best brother any sister could ask for.

“That’s good to hear, I was… ah, never mind, I’m sure it’s alright.” Kieth said, smiling most radiantly to his sister, he knew she wasn’t telling him something - she was different as of late, noticeably so. However, respecting her privacy, he opted not to push the issue, at least not right now.

“Speaking of mother, is she still mad…?” Katarina asked, she did want to know if it would be safe perhaps to petition for mercy from her most inhumane punishment. 

“Yes, rather mad. In fact I don’t think I’ve seen her that angry with you yet” Kieth said with a gentle smile “Please never do that again unless it's a matter of life and death.”

Well, that particular dream was shot down right from the sky. Katarina just let out a sign and smiled “Well, let’s just enjoy our time and snacks together, Kieth.”

* * *

Meanwhile, in a place far from Sorcier, in fact far from the very world itself – in an everdistant garden away from worldly hardships, there was a tower, atop it - a lone wizard and his familiar resided, passing their time in the eternity, observing the curiosities of the universe. Truly, what else was there to do when you have all the time in the world? 

“Truly a curious one, she is, don’t you agree? Not a simple bone inside her.” the magus would ponder after observing Katarina and her routine, trying to call for powers from beyond. He usually did not state his thoughts out loud, but this was an interesting exception to the rule. “Perhaps, a little boost to her ambitions and confidence could make the view that much more enjoyable, don’t you think, Cath Palug?”

“Fou” replied the familiar, a white animal resembling a mix of squirrel with a dog. For all of it’s cute appearance, anyone familiar with its true name would get an understanding of the calamity hidden beneath.

“Ah, when was I the one for messing with people’s lives? You hurt me so.” the magus played mock hurt, before continuing “Still, I cannot say you are wrong. And it could be really rather fun to observe, even if that is the case.”

“Fou fou” followed a slightly more irate answer. Whenever he got into someone business, there was too much trouble for anyone involved, apart from the sly magus himself. All of that sounded like effort.

“That is true, you bring a good point, she wouldn’t know how to perform the summoning ritual. The mana exhaustion would kill her. She doesn’t even have a catalyst. All valid points.”

The magus would pick up his familiar from the soft pillow and started to pace around the tower, it wasn’t much of a living arrangement, just some ten by ten meters - so it wasn’t long before they found themselves on one of the tower's many balconies. 

“Someone like her would most likely be a rather inept master, all things told - she clearly will grow up to be rather cute and charming if a bit oblivious to her own charm, … ah, but I digress, all of those problems can be solved, isn’t that right?”

The magus changed his posture slightly, summoning his staff and lifting his familiar by the collar now. “Run along now, Cath Palug.I will be fine here.”

“Fou?” Cath Palug, or as some would come to refer to him - Fou, really didn’t have much time to reply before he was thrown down from the tower.

“You are free to go! Go, and make contact with that which is truly beautiful!” The magus of flowers exclaimed, how eyes following as his familiar would plummet down and away.

The only other thing he could hear for a good minute was:

“Foooooooou!”

Showing a hint of a budding smile, the magus went back inside the tower - he had a little dream, or rather a little nightmare to attend.

* * *

_“From the stars of the inner sea, from the tower of insight..._

_From the four corners of paradise, let them know..._

_Their story..._

_...is filled with blessings._

_Only those free of sin may pass…”_

Today’s nightmare is one of the stronger ones. It feels like it’s stretching to eternity, a void of emptiness, threatening to consume me whole. I struggle, trying to rouse myself – but it doesn’t go away, doesn’t relent. I want to scream, yet no sound escapes me. I run, screaming at the top of my lungs, trying to find an escape from the encroaching darkness. I hate this, every second of this - was that my punishment? Divine justice for being reborn, escaping my ultimate demise?

I don’t have time to pursue that line of questioning further, before something changes. A beautiful petal falls slowly in front of me, coming as if from heaven itself. Then another one follows, a dozen more right after it and soon enough as far as my eyes can see - flowers start to bud. The gripping feeling of dread inside my chest relents as I fall down onto the beautiful garden growing from under me. What is happening? 

A moment passes and as I blink, suddenly I find myself in my bed. For the first time in a long time I do not jump awake from my nightmare. It feels… nice. 

“Fou.” A sudden noise still makes me lift my head, technically it was not a part of a nightmare but it still startles me all the same.

“Huh? Who’s there?” Katarina called out, as she kept looking over her room, she felt something was a little bit off - but didn’t connect the dots until she spotted a cute animal sitting on her window. 

With most exotic colors and a little bit of cloth for a jacket, decorated with a ribbon, it looks like a very cute dog, but she knew not what kind of dog it could be. Katarina suppressed instinct to flinch upon seeing the creature.

“Fou.” the creature repeats, it sure sounds cute, but what did it mean?

“Haaa…” Katarina would just sort of observe slightly nervously, even if it was easy on the eyes - she still wasn’t that fond of dogs, even with its size being rather tiny, it probably could hurt Katarina considerably if it wanted. And her window was very pointedly closed when she went to bed, as the nights weren’t as warm anymore.

“Fou” this time the little bundle of fur jumps out the window, prompting Katarina to get up from the bed, to see what happened if nothing else. . To her surprise, the little doggy didn’t hurt himself, even seemingly just patiently looking up, as if waiting for her.

“Is that someone’s dog? Animal… thing? Is that why the nightmare went away?” Katarina asked herself, trying to process everything that was going on - it then clicked in her head. “It wants to show me something, doesn’t it.”

Deciding not to waste another moment the girl changed into her dress and would climb out of her room through the window, it was fat too late in the night, but she felt it was important - she felt it in her very soul! As she made it downstairs safe and sound, the peculiar animal dashed off.

“Wait! No! Slow down!” Katarina chased right after, it was difficult to do so without causing a scene and making tons of noise but eventually they reached one of the corners of the estate - up to the very wall. The little bundle of trouble would aim at the corner and then jump the wall in one swift leap, three or four meters wide.

“Holy smokes!” Katarina didn’t even manage to keep quiet, she did not expect the little animal to jump quite that high, the force behind that jump must have been enormous considering the size. And she was quite sure she couldn’t scale this wall from here to follow, so the logic dictated this location in particular was important to show to her. But why?

Looking around it was actually rather obvious, just a bit under the grass something was etched into the earth. Moving closer, it was definitely some kind of magical rune - it looked the part at the very least and that’s how Katarina judged everything magical - does it look or sound magical? Then it is. 

Examining the rune, Katarina couldn’t shake the feeling that she saw this rune somewhere before. She just couldn’t quite pinpoint where she saw it or what it did. A sudden urge came over her, a flood of knowledge and a calling - disorientating her momentarily. Steadying herself Katarina would take a deep breath and step forward to the rune, gathering her bravery.

The words which were so eager to leave her mouth were not her own, but she felt at ease as she found herself in control. It was a decision, only for her. Well, here goes nothing.

_**“I hereby propose, give thy body unto me”.** _

It felt surreal, chanting an incantation was a unique experience - not something she has ever done before, yet she knew exactly what to do as she raised her right hand.

_**“Give thy sword unto my hands.”** _

Something within the complex rune started to shift, Katarina felt magic slowly channel out of her body, as she felt faint momentarily. 

_**“If in accordance to the summons of the Holy Grail, thou dost accede to this will, this reason, then answer me!”** _

The Holy Grail sounded familiar, something on the edge of her mind flared up again. Holy Grail, Holy Grail… it was really important, but she forgot. Dummy.

_**“I hereby swear, I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world!”** _

The longer Katarina chants, the more the seal shifts - soon it begins to glow an ominous red light, clearly whatever she was doing was working.

_**“Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”** _

As Katarina finished the incantation, sharp pain pierced her right hand, prompting the girl to stumble, as the light of the rune flared up, making it much too difficult to see. 

When next her vision returned, [Katarina saw in front of her](https://i.imgur.com/yRKHrof.png) a young girl clad in an exotic “outfit” of bandages and fishnets, she couldn’t be much taller then Katarina herself, yet she looked… many things. Secretive and dangerous among other traits – her one sole eye looking at Katarina, as if assessing the situation. Katarina had to admit, there was something rather cool about her just standing there.

“Kouga Jonin. My True Name, Mochizuki Chiyome. Assassin-class. Please, give me your orders, my la… m-my lady?!”

Just before Chiyome could finish her introductions, Katarina fainted - a mix of shock, exhaustion and mana depletion. How embarrassing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--- New Servant Summoned! ---  
> True Name: Mochizuki Chiyome (Lily)  
> Class: Assassin  
> Alignment: Chaotic Evil (?)  
> STR: D, END: D, AGI: A, MANA: C, LUCK: C, NP: C  
> Height/Weight: 154cm・46kg (Rank down! 120cm)  
> Presence Concealment Rank: A+  
> Curse, this blood of mine. Curse, this sin of mine.  
> Despite being able to easily classify as a young girl even in her typical summon, this particular version of Chiyome seems to be even tinier than her usual variation, as a result of unconventional summoning. While her true master is Lady Katarina Claes, her summoner most definitely is not, as her master does not possess enough magical energy to call upon forces from the beyond… yet.  
> Chiyome herself Is a woman of the late Warring States, a sarcastic answer to the so-called “renowned ninja”, which in itself is a contradiction to her activities. Despite her alignment being Chaotic Evil, she is loyal to a fault and truly can bloom in the hands of a caring lord or lady.  
> “Give thy sword unto my hands.”
> 
> \--- Parameter Rules ---  
> There are five main ranks, E, D, C, B, A, that each have a quantifiable number assigned to it.  
> E is 10, D is 20, C is 30, B is 40, A is 50. Each + symbol adds the initial number to the total. As such A+ is 100 and A+++ is 200.  
> The very peak human strength can be summarized as 10, as such a servant with Agility of A is five times more agile than the most agile human possible.  
> The one exception is EX rank: It represents something that falls outside of the numerical ranking scale, a value that cannot be quantified under the normal system because it is in a league of its own, powerful to the extent of rendering comparisons meaningless.
> 
> \--- New characters of note ---  
> * Chiyome - Assassin class servant, first servant summoned into this world by Katarina with the help of Magus of Flowers.  
> * Fou - Beast of Calamity, Cath Palug. A cute familiar who enjoys to laze about and wants to kill his previous master for throwing him from the most comfortable living imaginable.  
> * Magus Of Flowers (Merlin) - Nobody likes that guy.


	3. Chapter 2 - Voices of Authority

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katarina wakes up to realise the events which transpired last night were not in fact a dream and has a brilliant plan on how to deal with it all - just fess up an take the punishment on the chin.

It took Katarina until morning to wake up this time, staring at the ceiling she thought to herself, what a weird dream that was.Judging by the fact Anne wasn’t shaking her awake yet, she still had some precious time to laze about under the blanket, an opportunity she would gladly take.

“My lady, are you awake?” Chiyome spoke up, before Katarina managed to fall asleep yet again.

“H-huh?!” to say that Katarina got startled by that, would be to say nothing. She quickly looked around her room, finding nothing until she looked to the side, seeing that girl from yesterday, kneeling by the bed.. Wait… doesn’t that mean that was no dream? 

Before Katarina could even figure out what to reply, Chiyome did something Katarina was well familiar with - fell into a dogeza. 

“I am deeply sorry for scaring you senseless, my lady!” Chiyome exclaimed with conviction, clearly shaken by what happened. Perhaps even more so than Katarina was, just now. 

“…” Katarina just stared awkwardly for a couple of seconds, before a blush crept onto her face “A-ah, please rise up. Um, Chiyome, was it? P-please stop that, it’s alright I swear!”

Thankfully, Chiyome would stop as soon as Katarina asked, returning to her kneeling position, like a henchman. “Thank you for your forgiveness, My lady.” 

Katarina meanwhile was just trying to process all of the information she had access to for now, she might be a bit slow on the uptake - but it wasn’t impossible for her to put all of the pieces together. Still, more information wouldn’t hurt. “Could you please explain, what happened after I passed out?”

“Seeing as it was the night and you were not dressed appropriately to sleep outside, I carried you to your room and made sure you were comfortable. At least I think this is your room, my confidence into the memories given to me upon summoning is shaky at best, for which I apologize.” Chiyome would tilt her head down slightly momentarily. “Such things are not uncommon when summoning heroic spirits, especially when it's an unconventional summoning as this one.” 

Katarina blinked, then turned pale as she scrambled to take a look at her right hand - sure enough, on the back of her hand etched were three command seals, she recalled the pain from after the summoning - that was the command seals etching themselves out! 

Katarina held a moment of silence for herself, as she stared at the seals. Technically, they were also referred to as command spells at times, but it wasn’t really important - the main issue was, they were there.

“I am so dead.” Katarina said, giggling nervously, cold sweat hitting her, there was no hiding these. “Wait, what do you mean an unconventional summoning?” 

“I believe, while you are my master and my lady, you do not appear to have enough magical energy to sustain me, let alone summon a heroic spirit.” Chiyome would explain, she would prefer not to insult her lady like that, however seeing as she was just a child herself she had no choice “I assume someone provided the mana for the ritual and the unpleasant feeling I am experiencing right now is hunger, an alternative method for generating magical energy alongside, aaaa-ah, se…”

The young kunoichi did not manage to finish that sentence, as they both heard someone approach the door. Not taking any risks, she dispersed into her spirit form, Katarina still felt she was close by, yet she was not there physically. She wondered how that worked, as the door would open and Anne would enter.

“Good morning, Miss Catarina, I hope you had a wonderful night’s rest.” Anne seemed none the wiser to the fact there was someone else here seconds ago, which was a big plus. “Is something wrong, Miss Catarina?”

“Ah! It’s all fine Anne, just woke up early and was thinking about all the good things I could do today! Speaking off, could I, ahem, have a little chat with my parents and Kieth?” Katarina would try to laugh it off, while hiding her right hand from the maid - trying her hardest not to raise too much suspicion, despite her request.

“If… that is what you wish, Miss Catarina, I will inquire if that would be possible,” said Anne, raising her eyebrows in surprise “I will be back shortly. Please get yourself ready in the meantime.” Anne asked of her, before leaving.

“She’ll be back soon, My lady. What do you wish me to do?” Chiyome asked telepathically, she did not dare leave spirit form on the off chance the maid could return.

“Please stay like that until I tell my family everything. Also please prepare an explanation of what you can do, for everybody” Katarina asked, not sounding particularly excited, but at the very least she sounded resolute. She made that mess, she was going to sort it, even if she had a really solid shot at perishing today. Maybe she could just dash for her garden hoe and run away?

“It shall be done, My lady. I look forward to seeing what plan you have” Chiyome was pretty sure it wasn’t a good idea to just straight up tell anyone the truth, but it was not her place to question - just to follow orders. Perhaps her Lady had some sort of cunning plan figured out on how to make the best of this situation.

* * *

“Mother, Father, Kieth, Anne! Meet Chiyome!” declared Katarina after Anne managed to gather everyone, to their chagrin. Chiyome herself would exit her spirit form as Katarina introduced her, startling all present. They looked positively aghast, so Katarina then followed “She’s an awesome spirit of legend and I kind of messed up and summoned her into our world by accident, please don’t be too mad, I am very very sorry! I am so so sorry!”

Having said that, Katarina busted out her secret weapon! With all of her skills as a noble lady, she would do an apologetic bow just as her mother tried many times to teach her, with little to no result. If this couldn’t express how sorry she was, nothing was going to. And no matter what - this was going to suck.

* * *

And so it did. It took in total three hours to get the whole situation under control, during which Katarina heard many choice words from her parents and even Kieth about endangering herself, about a reckless use of magic and just her inability to stay out of trouble. After that was settled, the questions started to come in - at that point Chiyome had to join the conversation.

She really did not anticipate it would be so difficult to explain everything, but Katarina’s mother as she found out - was a surprisingly terrifying person. Her gaze was absolutely soul piercing and made the poor kunoichi highly uncomfortable. Still, she pushed through.

“A heroic spirit is a rather broad name, but most of us are people who lived once and have had our legends memorized or passed through the generations. Some heroic spirits are just straight up popular legends, or even divine spirits. The only real requirement for being a heroic spirit is being registered at a so-called Throne of Heroes, a place where our saint graphs are stored” Chiyome started her explanation “Saint graphs are something akin to a brain, it stores who we are - our memories, our experiences. It also influences our class and many other factors about us, servants.There are many classes one can be summoned as, as long as one qualifies, but most common examples are the seven core classes”

The seven core classes - Saber, Archer, Lancer, Assassin, Caster, Rider and Berserker. None of them took that long to explain to the Claes household, as the class names were pretty self descriptive. 

“My true name, as My Lady knows already, is Mochizuki Chiyome, a kunoichi and a shrine maiden from my era.” she would bow, as she finished the general explanation and let everyone process the information.

“I see, thank you for your explanation. I think I understand the general gist of everything you were trying to say” First to speak was Luigi, who would then stand up and walk over to Katarina, putting his hand on her shoulder. He did chuckle as she straightened her posture in panic. “Katarina. As much as it pains me, first is the matter of your punishment. Seeing your complete disregard for your safety or common sense, you leave me little choice but to ban you from sweets until the end of this month.”

“End of this month?! But it’s almost two weeks away!” Katarina was absolutely horrified, she almost cried out for sweet release from her mortal coil before lowering her eyes down to the floor and giving a nod “Yes, father. I understand.”

“Now, I believe you want to say something, Miri?” Luigi would pass the torch to his wife.

“Indeed. While your explanation was sufficiently easy to understand, can you prove any of it apart from the part where you… appear out of thin air?” Miri almost sounded exasperated, if everything she just heard was true, Katarina really got herself into trouble this time.

Chiyome would nod and would start showcasing everything - from her uncanny agility and strength, to her skills and presence concealment - that one was especially impressive, as she was still very much corporeal but for all intents and purposes was absolutely invisible and undetectable. Still, sooner or later Chiyome opted to become visible again.

“So your class in that case would be Assassin. Am I correct?” asked Miri, as the girl made a point not to bring that up prior. Chiyome would freeze, sort of awkwardly trying to come up with the answer which wasn’t just yes, but ultimately giving up “Indeed, Lady Claes.” 

“That does not sound particularly inspiring, how are we to know you won’t harm Katarina?” Kieth finally spoke up, he was on the fence about the whole thing. Disregarding her immodest attire, someone like that was dangerous - just her existence alone was an impossibility. On the other hand, Katarina did seem to trust her, but that didn’t mean he had to like this!

“I would never!” Chiyome took visible offense to that “And even if for some reason some maligned curse would make me do so, My Lady has command seals for that reason. They are commands of absolute authority, ones which I cannot disobey. Speaking of which.” Chiyome would turn to Katarina and bow “My lady. If the need ever arises, a simple command for me to commit suicide will keep you safe.”

Katarina would panic, waving her hands around and crying out in denial “W-wait, where did that come from?! I’m not going to do anything like that, s-stop with that nonsense!” 

After that was said, silence reigned for a short while, until Miri finally snapped and asked “And what of your outfit? Please tell me you don’t have to wear… this at all times?” 

Judging by the intonation, this was the thing bothering her mother the most out of the whole situation. Katarina finally let out a sign of relief, if that was the biggest issue for her mother, they were in the clear. Mission accomplished, Chiyome! Good job!

“Aaah… n-no I don’t have to use it, it’s simply what I am given upon my summoning!” Chiyome was thrown for the loop by that question so much, she panicked, just now realising how indecent she must look for a noble lady.

Miri would look at Kieth, then Luigi and finally at Katarina. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she began “Very well. You may stay here, on three conditions.”

Chiyome would get on one knee, steadying her resolve.

“First condition, everyone in this room trusts and cherishes each other - as such, you are to trust, cherish and protect each one of us, just as you would Katarina. That also means, following our lead when asked of you, despite what Katarina may need or want of you.” 

“I agree, Lady Claes.” Chiyome didn’t stutter at all, she already asked Katarina telepathically if she should agree to these demands, the answer was “yes”.

“Second condition, you are to keep the origin of your existence a secret for as long as possible. Choice people will be told by us specifically, among them will be Katarina’s fiance.”

“I agree, Lady Claes.” she did think that would also be for the better.

“And finally, third condition - you will take the role of a distant relative to both Katarina and Kieth, as to not bring any unnecessary questions about your appearance in their lives. That means, that outfit of yours gets buried somewhere in the garden and you will wear appropriate attire everywhere, no exceptions.” 

“... I agree, Lady Claes.” Chiyome really felt like she was between a rock and a hard place for a second there, Lady Claes could be terrifying for just a human. Still, the conditions were… reasonable, they really must love Katarina to go that lenient on her despite the less than stellar presentation of the issue. 

“Very well. Kieth, take Katarina and Anne with you to help clean the estate and be ready to give a tour later. I will meanwhile head out to sort a reasonable attire for Chy… Cha.. Chiyome.” Miri would stand up “So, this way.” she would beckon Chiyome to follow her. The kunoichi followed obediently, feeling only slightly nervous. 

To her pleasant surprise, Miri turned out much more gentle when she showed herself back in the meeting, she would take the measurements for the girl herself before starting to go through the already present dresses and materials.

“Thank you for not calling our bluff in front of Katarina.” Miri spoke up, suddenly as she was getting everything ready, clearly eyeing a suitable dress already.

“Bluff, Lady Claes?” Chiyome didn’t quite understand what she meant.

“About all of these rules. Are you not extremely strong and fast as you showed us?” Chiyome would nod. “Can appear and disappear at will?” Another nod. “Turn pretty much undetectable?” A third nod. “So tell me, if we told you to get out, what exactly could we do to enforce that?”

Chiyome would blink, as realisation did hit her, nothing. She didn’t even consider any hostilities as this was the family of her Lady, to whom she would dedicate this life, but in practice they could do nothing to her. So that was mostly a show to put up for Katarina, not anything strictly formal.

“I understand now. Thank you for putting your faith into me, Lady Claes. I shall protect your family to my last breath.” Chiyome said as a matter of fact. 

Miri would look at her and sigh, shaking her head “And maybe Katarina will learn a thing or two about proper behaviour from you. I don't quite understand what place you hail from, but your manners are where they need to be for a noble lady.”

“I am in fact of noble birth, Lady Claes. I also appear to have received a good share of local customs and general knowledge upon my summoning. If you wish I can attempt to keep an eye out for breaches of custom… once I verify they are actual customs and not what My lady thinks is appropriate”

“I would appreciate that. Now, let’s focus on getting this dress fitted.” Miri replied, a little fire playfully showing in her eyes “Katarina never liked the color of this one, but I think it will suit you just fine.”

* * *

It took the better part of what was left of the day to make the dress fit perfectly, especially since Miri couldn’t ask for the usual staff to help until the first fitting - she had nothing decent to put on Chiyome prior. Still, the result was well worth all the effort - the girl looked absolutely transformed, the dress thankfully was not only fitting, also hid most of her scales like scarring from the prying eyes - which was a big positive. 

“Very well then, go and find Katarina and ask her to show you around the estate proper and to introduce you to everyone. Remember, you will be representing our family name now, so act as becoming of you.” 

“As you wish, Lady Claes. Thank you.” Chiyome then would head out to find Katarina, moving with the grace of a swan. It almost brought a tear to Miri’s eye, hopefully her daughter could repeat just a fraction of that grace one day. Fingers crossed.

Chiyome did not take a very long time at all to locate her master, after all she had a supernatural connection to her. Also, she just looked in the most obvious place - her room. 

“Chiyome! Wow! [You look… absolutely gorgeous!](https://i.imgur.com/TfZEqh5.jpg)” Katarina exclaimed, prompting the subject of her compliments to blush.

“Thank you, My lady. Your mother instructed me to ask you for the tour of the estate. I would be ecstatic if you could spare the time.” there was no point denying it, to Chiyome her Lord, or in this case - her Lady - was everything, so she wanted to spend as much time in her company as possible. She felt a disapproving gaze, Lord Kieth was there also. Did she say something wrong?

“Ah, please quit with the formalities. Just call me by the name!” Katarina smiled radiantly, coming closer to hug Chiyome, prompting another blush “I’ll call you Chiyome, you call me Katarina and we’ll both call Kieth, Kieth! But anyway, let’s go on the tour! Come along with us, Kieth!”

Not wasting another moment, Katarina grabbed her new friend and dragged her along, Kieth followed immediately, he was not going to let this situation get out of control! She was already falling for his sister! If there was a time for him to panic, the time was now!

* * *

Overall, the tour ended up being a rather fun experience - Chiyome had no idea so many people were employed at the estate, however it was still nice to meet all of them, even nicer to do so in a positive environment. Obviously, the second she would have some spare time she would start keeping tabs on everyone, but for now there was no reason to hold any ill will against anyone.

They also visited the kitchen during the tour and grabbed Chiyome something to eat, that weird feeling was indeed hunger - a most peculiar one for a servant. After all that was said and done however, they called it a night - everyone apart from Chiyome who would take a moment to climb the roof of the estate to just spend a moment by herself.

“Seems like Katarina’s mana supply is not enough to sustain anything apart from the bond between us. It has been a long time since last time I felt… hungry.” Chiyome pondered on the situation “But it is a nice feeling, to know that I once again have been blessed with a master who will take good care of me.”

Life is good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I sorted most of the issues plaguing this chapter, but some rough edges might still remain. I have originally made an illustration for this chapter, but moved the scene I depicted a little bit further ahead. 
> 
> As such, this time illustration is made by my art senpai - @Tblkvin on twitter. 
> 
> Thank you for all the kind words so far, I hope you all can continue enjoying this story going into the future. <3


	4. Chapter 3 - Learning Curve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chiyome goes through some family bonding experience and things slowly start going into motion.

Meanwhile that very same night, in Katarina’s head - a meeting has been held, to discuss long overdue matters - Chiyome and what to do going forward now that she is here. Chairman Katarina would use her gavel to get everyone's attention.

“ _Order, please!_ Now that everyone is here and accounted for, our meeting officially begins!” Chairman Katarina announced with her usual serious and wise tone “Today’s point of interest, our new friend – Chiyome and how she is going to change our plans going forward.”

“She is really scary…” the Spineless Katarina mentioned “Maybe we should try to part on amicable terms? We still have that box saved up...”

“Hell no! I’m sure she wouldn’t hurt us! And we can’t just abandon a new friend! No way!” Fearless Katarina interjected “She even proclaimed she wouldn’t hurt us!”

“We never met each other, as such I see no reason for her to hurt us. Heroic spirits are above such things, unless they take personal offense to their masters. At least, they were depicted like that.” Studious Katarina confirmed “I would be worried if she was, say, Witch of Betrayal but the name should explain that specific case.”

“She’s also really cute! We should become good friends and then play lots and eat sweets together!” Happy Katarina would state, in her usual carefree way.

“She still brought up the fact a situation might arise where we would need to... deal with her…” Spineless Katarina would mutter ever so quietly, the room would burst out in murmurs. 

“Tch… you’re right. But what can we do?! There is nothing we could do to a heroic spirit! Nothing a normal human does can even scratch them without some serious plot reason!” Studious Katarina would say slightly nervously. 

“She did mention it would take a malignant curse for her to turn on us,” Fearless Katarina interjected “I think the best course of action is to ask her to train us, if we get to know her fighting style eventually we would be able to hold our own enough to escape even from her!”

“Stand our own against a heroic spirit? That’s impossible.” Studious Katarina would remind to her fearless colleague.

“But Emiya Shirou was human and he stood against several heroic spirits! That was such a fun moment to watch, I kind of want to watch it again!” Happy Katarina brought some insight to the table also, there was some more murmuring.

“He did have the power of plot on his side and he was a protagonist! Remember our role!” Studious Katarina would counter, then took a second “Or actually… now what I think about it, curses are prerogative of villains - so if we just avoid anything related to curses, she should be totally fine!”

It did not take too much time after that revelation to reach a conclusion.

“Then are we all in agreement to ask Chiyome to help train us, as well as avoid anything related to curses?” Asked Chairman Katarina.

“No objections!”

“It will also help with Geordo if it comes to that!”

Somehow, not a single one of them considered Chiyome would be willing to simply protect Katarina herself.

* * *

The next few days felt like a fairy tale - since that fateful night, the nightmares left - never to return again, the mental wounds and doubts caused by them started to heal slowly, the only strange visions Katarina shared now were distant memories of a life which was not hers, from a distant world. 

She got the general gist of them pretty fast - it was glimpses in how Chiyome lived her previous summoned life in Chaldea, a secret agency founded to prevent certain extinction in that world. She didn’t gleam anything crucial yet, their bond was still fresh - but she saw faces, some more often than others. A young woman with a short fiery head was chief among those visions, her old master if she had to guess.

Katarina figured she would have to ask Chiyome about them eventually, just from those few glimpses she was sure eventually they turned into family for her and, like no one else she could relate to what the young kunoichi must have felt losing them. Still, Katarina didn’t want to rush into the situation, in a rare glimpse of wisdom she realized she should wait until Chiyome was comfortable with them as a family. So the heartache wouldn’t sting nearly as bad. 

Speaking of Chiyome, she wasted no time in figuring out the most efficient food for magical energy conversion, the answer came pretty quickly - it was sweets, her master preferred food. Having figured that out she would approach Lady Claes about it – she wanted to serve at peak efficiency but eating sweets in front of Katarina would make Katarina really, really jealous and Chiyome didn’t want to tease her.

Miri would employ a simple solution to that, she invited Chiyome to drink tea with her every so often, so the two could chat and share some sweets without Katarina’s sweet tooth being tickled.

It worked out surprisingly well, Chiyome being a good listener and both of them sharing interest in keeping Katarina out of harm's way, be it people or reputation - lead to no shortage of topics to discuss, information to learn and plans to make. 

Miri made a point that, telepathic link between Chiyome and Katarina was probably their strongest weapon, as any information which the patient and observant kunoichi would have at her disposal was easily available to her cluts of a daughter. Still, despite the two sharing most of their sessions in talk over Katarina, Chiyome was feeling more and more welcomed for who she was, rather than just a useful tool. 

The two would get especially close once the social gatherings resumed, this time with Chiyome tagging along - while Katarina and Kieth attended quite a few of them, their capabilities to work in the rumour mill were virtually nonexistent. Katarina preferred food over talk and Kieth preferred Katarina over anyone else and even if food wasn’t involved, Katarina had some reservations against eavesdropping. 

Reservations which, Chiyome lacked completely - she would act as a social butterfly, despite her slightly exotic look and made sure to note down every little bit of information from the peers, every rumor and tale, even outright spy here and there with presence concealment, after excusing herself to “powder her nose”.

With all of that information in hand, together with Lady Claes they began spinning the rumor mill head over heel, slowly transitioning rumors aimed at Claes household back to senders, which was relatively easy. 

In fact, it would be problematic if it wasn’t - considering it was a bunch of Katarina’s pears versus a heroic spirit and a noble lady of the highest caliber. A little whisper out of nowhere here, a dropped note or love letter there and all what was left is to enjoy the show with a cup of tea and macaroon in hand. 

Then there was Lord Claes, with whom Chiyome spent significantly less time - but still had some interesting discussions. He shared with her some of his plans on how to control the events in case Katarina blabed about her, as he didn’t wish for either of them to become agents for the crown - which was inevitable if something wasn’t done about it. It was generally frowned upon to waste opportunities within the nobility. 

He was a gentle man with a firm grip on the situation around him, she was honestly quite impressed by that. She had to meet many an incompetent noble in her many lifetimes and seeing someone as powerful as a duke be so relatively down to earth was a nice change of pace. 

Lord Claes showed particular interest in that other world, Chiyome mentioned for her origin, he wondered if it was more or less advanced then Sorcier and asked her to keep an eye out and a thought in her head on potential improvements, as being valuable business partners to the kingdom along with Prince Geordo’s word would alleviate most of the issues which could arise going forward. Overall, those meetings were rare but enjoyable and rather productive.

Overall, the family bonding experience was going well – even Kieth who was initially rather cold and reluctant to spend time in her company began to warm up, Chiyome wasn’t sure if it was something she said what started them on the wrong foot, but she opted to completely omit their awkward start and embrace him as a friend. 

* * *

As the end of the month was fast approaching, Katarina found herself doing more and more gardening. The main reason for that was the rapid decline of her field’s health, she couldn’t figure what was going on for the life of her and worst of all - Tom wouldn’t be available for quite some time, her garden could very well wilt to death by the time he would be back!

Still, he did finish the little project she asked him to help her with, which was very kind of him - she would need to figure out something nice to get him. 

But going back to her garden - the plants were getting sufficient light, water and fertilizer as far as she was concerned, so the lack of results was driving her mad - even Geordo who usually seemed to know the answer to almost anything was struggling to name a reason.

Speaking of Geordo - without much fuss, Miri and Luigi introduced him to Chiyome and initiated him to the secret of her origin, he was Katarina’s fiance after all - the fact they planned to use to make sure he stayed silent about it. He took it surprisingly well, pretty much shrugging about the whole situation. Honestly, Katarina was a little bit disappointed he didn’t fall in love with Chiyome at first sight, she would bless their love on the spot. 

Still, as the troubles on the (garden) homefront were not going away, Katarina’s mood soured considerably, finally deciding to take a break from gardening she took out her brand new Pokesnek and started to play around with it. 

It didn’t look like much of a snake, but maybe it would be enough to trick Geordo. Without thinking much, she would look around and toss it towards Chiyome, to see how she would react.

The blood curling [“Kiiiiyyaaa?!”](https://i.imgur.com/Yk51Jnl.png) startled Katarina almost as much as the toy snake scared Chiyome, who violently jumped away from the snake shaking slightly. Chiyome was afraid of snakes? It took the young kunoichi just a second to get herself under control, as her eyes narrowed at the snake and slowly moved to Katarina. Uh-oh.

“My lady, please refrain from ever doing t-that again,” Chiyome would ask, a heavy pout on her face ‘Otherwise I would have to recall who was it who broke that priceless vase the other day, perhaps during the family dinner.”

“Aaah! No, please anything but that! I am so sorry!” Katarina would fall into a dogeza right there, she didn’t mean to do that, honestly! Both the vase and scaring Chiyome like that!

“A-ah, Katarina please don’t do that, I was just joking. But please, keep that… thing away from me.” Chiyome said slowly, helping Katarina up, the whole thing suddenly turned too awkward for her.

“Okay! I will, I’m sorry, I didn’t know there was anything that could scare you,” the following blush melted Chiyome’s sour face completely “So I guess it is a very effective weapon in a pinch! Just need to test it on Geordo now!”

Chiyome blinked, tilting her head ever so slightly “On… your fiance, the third prince? That Geordo?”

“In case I ever need to run away from him,” Katarina confirmed “Also I was meaning to ask for some time… would you train with me? I want to train to be as fast and strong as possible, in case I, you know, ever need to ah… evade doom or something like that.”

Chiyome would tilt her head a little bit further “Of course, Katarina. But you shouldn't worry about such things, I will protect you.”

“Ah, I can’t expect you to babysit me all the time, you’ll eventually find more important things to do.” Katarina would wave that off in her usual fashion, prompting Chiyome to rub the bridge of her nose. She supposed there could be a situation where she would have to protect the rest of the family instead, but that was such a silly thing to say.

“But it won’t be easy just because you are my lady and master, Katarina.” Chiyome warned in a stern voice, she didn’t want to sound stern but this was important “in fact, seeing as how clumsy you can be you will no doubt hurt yourself many times until you will start understanding the routine I would teach you. You might want to stockpile on painkillers and bandages”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to figure something out! Except the painkillers, they don’t make those in this world, everything is either magic or an herbal remedy of some description. Like teas and ointments.”

“In that case I’ll make some for you, my lady. I have been trained by lord Asclepius himself in how to make several critical…” Chiyome would freeze, processing what she was about to say, then smiled charmingly “Just leave it to me, Katarina.”

“Hoh? Several what? Come on, tell me. Come on! Stop smiling like that and tell me! No? Awww.” Now it was Katarina’s turn to pout. 

* * *

It was just three days before Katarina’s sweets ban was due and the whole family gathered at the table for dinner.

“Katarina, you’ve received an invitation to a tea party,” Luigi would say closer to the end of the dinner “Would you like to go?”

Chiyome would just look from the sideline as Luigi and Miri would discuss whether to allow Katarina to attend, she did manage to pick up a limited selection of manners after both Kieth and Chiyome began working on her, but the key word was - limited. Also, tea parties would usually involve sweats - which were still banned, but Sir and Lady Claes were willing to omit that for one day, provided Katarina would behave. Kieth and Chiyome would be then dutifully charged with making sure it would go spotless, as Hunt’s were good friends to the Claes family, as such…

“We will do our best.” Both Kieth and Chiyome replied, while Katarina was eating some salad thinking “Wait, I am the oldest sister between the three of us, no? Why are they looking after me?”

The tea party overall was a success – it only took some carefully timed distractions to make sure people didn’t notice Katarina absolutely demolishing a lion’s share of sweets available, before she had to go and powder her nose, so Chiyome considered it a success. In fact, it appeared Katarina even made a new friend in one Mary Hunt, which also was a nice bonus. Or rather – two friends, as Mary’s fiance Alan showed himself sooner rather than later, also becoming friends with Katarina on the fast lane.

Honestly, it was a bit surreal how fast Katarina was able to make friends, Chiyome felt a sense of nostalgia. She knew someone else who could and often would make friends with everyone, almost always at a detriment to herself. Someone with a heart of gold and a charming smile, worth protecting until one’s last breath. The sense of nostalgia hit especially hard after hearing Prince Alan play the piano, he clearly had a talent to fine music – something she saw before in heroic spirits like Mozart or Salieri, she wondered just what heights of music he would reach when he would grow up.

Still, more people in close circle of friends of Katarina meant more people who would have to be initiated into the little secret between Katarina and Chiyome, both lord and lady Claes were sure if they would keep it secret from her friends, Katarina would find a way to reveal it to them by accident anyway and make it awkward in the process. Thankfully, neither of the two minded too much, however Alan asked if that was the reason Katarina was like a squirrel.

While she wasn’t, Chiyome in fact really disliked that Katarina was as good at climbing trees as Chiyome herself was. Even someone timid like her had a little competitive streak. 

It was all in good fun.

* * *

Later that night, Geordo, Alan and Mary each pondered on the situation once again.

Geordo and Alan simply talked between each other, sharing thoughts and ideas on how Katarina could achieve such a difficult, unknown magic. Geordo honestly was betting everything on “she got lucky, because while she was always a highlight of his day and despite what many thought - surprisingly skilled and gifted in many areas, magic was not one of those areas. Alan on the other hand felt like trying to do some subtle research, to learn more about the possibilities of such magic, the twins would eventually conclude what they would do that together - especially since they had some precious time to catch up on. 

Mary on the other hand would spend the night thinking about it, she felt it was so… romantic. Not only Katarina managed to win over her heart with her charm and word, not only was she hard working yet sweet and delicate like a flower - it seemed like fate itself was favouring her, providing something unheard of to ensure Katarina would succeed in life. That night, Mary decided she would spend her life by Katarina’s side, no matter what - a decision she already reached once of course, but this time the fire of her passion burned even brighter. 

She would admit it to herself, she was jealous of the incredible powers shown to her by Chiyome, by the fact she would be the shield Katarina would no doubt wield in life, a shining beacon of hope against any storm. Well, if Katarina already had a shield and a crown, she only needed a sword. A singular thought lit the flames of passion with new strength. 

_ “I shall be that sword.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest - this chapter was a little bit of a struggle, so I am sorry if there is a drop in quality here, but I do have a pace to keep - characters need to be introduced and I get more ideas as I work, so.
> 
> Next chapter begins the first serious arc of the story, which will bring the second servant into the action and hopefully will be amusing, if nothing else.   
> The large portion of the overall story will be set in the years which were skipped between meeting the Ascarts and Academy days.   
> Oh and, which Heroic Spirit you think suits Mary the best?
> 
> As always, thank you for checking out my story~


	5. Chapter 4 - Objects in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of the first official arc for Katarina, dubbed - The Saint of Sorcier.  
> This is a humble, not so humble "isekai like" beginning of Katarina's career in medicine and medicine related exports. With help from Chiyome, Katarina will find herself right in the middle of a medicinal revolution!

The next several weeks could be described as a roller coaster by the eldest of the Claes children. Katarina found herself struggling to put aside enough time for everyone, there was just too much of them and too little of her.

Geordo, Alan, Mary and Kieth – all of them were more than a handful to handle in addition to her duties to the Claes name, as well as her garden. The list of daily things to do really was getting a bit out of hand.

Chiyome did pick up her slack on the household matters, which was well appreciated with many sisterly hugs, she was going to make her a proper part of the family whatever she liked it or not. She just wished Kieth would soften up a little bit, he was acting as if Chiyome was trying to steal her heart or something. But going back to the important issue - solving her daily schedule woes.

The most practical solution was to just demand of them to spend as much time together as possible, just all of them hanging around, chatting and enjoying a good cup of tea with a macaroon in hand. Just the way Katarina liked. It was at times difficult, yet worthwhile effort.

It was during one such gathering Geordo broke in an announcement.

“Everyone, while I hoped all of us would be here today for this, I believe Katarina will be able to pass my word to Chiyome herself.” the third prince stated, standing up “In the coming months, me and Alan will be hosting a tea party at the castle. You are all hereby invited to attend.”

It was Alan’s turn to stand up “Indeed, should you accept the invitation will come in officially, once we figure out the time and date. However all of you are expected to be on your best behavior.”

Katarina, who would be eating two sweets at the same time, completely missed the little fact Alan was staring trite at her when mentioning that last part. 

Alan would just let out an exasperated sigh, as Kieth would come in with a handkerchief to fix Katarina’s messy face “That means you, sister. You can count on us being there, Geordo, Alan.”

“A royal tea party? That would be quite a gallant event indeed!” Mary would affirm, wondering if she and Katarina could get matching dresses for such an event “I will be delighted to attend it. And cover for Katarina, of course.”

The twin princess would look between themselves and laugh, life sure wasn’t boring as long as they were all together.

“So wait, Chiyome is invited too, right?” Katarina made sure to ask, she was fairly sure the answer was yes, but she didn’t want to assume. 

“Indeed, where is she anyway? She spends more and more time working on something, but I never see any progress, just hear about it.” Geordo would mention, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Heh? Working on something?” Kieth and Katarina would ask at the same time, that was the first they heard anything of it.

“Yes, your father has commissioned quite a lot of very fine grade equipment from the Ministry of Magic, he explained it as needed for one of his children’s experiments. Since neither of you two are the type, not really that many options left.” Alan would explain a little bit more in detail.

“I honestly expected you to know something, she did ask me quite a lot about where to find some meadowsweet not too long ago.” Mary would note, thinking “I thought she wanted to use it for a tea remedy of some sort, but now I’m not sure.”

“Hm… that’s interesting. Honestly I did note she started to spend some time on her own, but I thought she just wanted some space from my evil looking face.” Katarina would matter, thinking what use Chiyome could have for all of these things.

“Evil looking? Katarina, this nonsense again?” Geordo would ask slightly irritated, he really failed to see what part of his fiance was evil to begin with, the girl had not a single mean bone. And even if she did, she was enough of a clutz for it to be useless.

“Aaah, just ignore it, just thinking of something out loud.” Katarina would wave it off, sensing his irritation and wanting to avoid a potential doom flag “Still, I suppose it couldn’t hurt to find out what she’s been doing and hand her the invitation to the upcoming party.”

Katarina would raise her right hand and touch the back of it, a faint red light would be seen through the silk glove she usually wore to cover the command seals. Everyone at the table would look closely at the display of magic, which was over as fast as it began. They were getting used to it, but it still looked like something out of a fairytale. 

“She’s actually close to the estate, over there! I’ll go visit her, it is about the time for us to wrap this up anyway, everyone.”

“I’ll come with you, Katarina!”

…

Everyone would look between each other, as they all said that in unison.

“Ah, no, no – it’s alright, everyone. I’ve got this, it won’t be too long.”

Katarina wasn’t sure why they all wanted to tag along, but she felt it would be nice to have some one on one time with Chiyome, so she spent some time prying others away from herself. Key word, prying. Reluctantly, everyone would concede in her favor and soon enough Katarina was headed to the freshly established workshop, practically next door to Claes estate. What in the world was she doing here?

* * *

At the same time, the last several weeks from Chiyome’s point of view were... frustrating. Difficult and filled with numerous speed bumps to her progress – from gathering materials, to figuring the needed equipment, to finally - experimentation.

The materials were a pretty straightforward matter – especially with Mary’s help, but figuring the equipment was tricky. Back in Chaldea days, they could pack whole laboratories into small satchels, but there was no such luxury here. Chiyome would lament the days relying on Da Vinci’s genius for all of her technical needs.

Still - since equipment was an issue, Chiyome had to delve quite deep into her memories – right to those faithful lessons lord Asclepius would give to her and others, in pursuit of references. 

That meant inducing a sort of lucid dreaming state every night and then focusing on those specific memories. From there, she would examine the equipment much closer to take notes and then hand them to Lord Claes, for manufacturing or straight up purchasing. 

Speaking of Lord Claes, he seemed to approve of her choice of a medicine to try and recreate - which was simple Aspirin, or as she simply referred to it - painkillers. He didn’t think it would be the most useful thing in the world, but it could provide a good start . After all, everyone was inconvenienced by a little pain every now and again.

As such, he wouldn’t really question Chiyome that much in depth and just sourced the equipment she needed, it wasn’t really that expensive apart from the few choice bits he had to commission from the mages at the ministry, so even if the results weren’t optimal it wasn’t a huge loss.

And at that point, pretty much at the finish line - she would end up being completely stumped – she knew how the process was supposed to go, but every time she would attempt to replicate it, every little thing seemed to go wrong. It truly was infuriating.

She just wished lord Asclepius was here to show her again, but then again – he would probably go on some medicine revolution crusade the moment he would appear, he was that kind of guy after all. 

“There’s nothing more worthless then a doctor not in front of a patient!” he often would yell, or something along the lines “The only thing I can’t cure is your stupidity! Now get me an interesting patient!”

Yeah, he was definitely a part of Chaldea’s “Death From Overwork” club, one of the only members there by choice, rather than circumstances. 

It was during such reminiscence the workshop's door would open quietly and Katarina strolled in, looking around. Chiyome would turn around to see her master, blushing – was Katarina looking for her? She wasn’t sure if she was ready to tell her what she was doing here.

“Woah. So is that why I’ve been having that silly dream all this time on repeat, Chiyome? You’re trying to make medicine?” Katarina would ask, prompting Chiyome to land her face in the palms of her hands.

Of course. The master-servant relationship was prone to share the dreams of one to another. She completely forgot about it - Katarina hadn’t had any real dreams for a little while now and back in Chaldea, there were hundreds of servants to share one master and they all sort of… took turns, for the lack of the better word.

Wait, that sounded kinda wrong. Nevermind!

“You were seeing all of those, Katarina? Why didn’t you tell me? I’m so sorry.” Chiyome would feel a wave of embarrassment, she must have found those infuriating after a while. Asclepius was a good teacher, but his teaching style was pretty cut and dry, not dissimilar to Lady Claes.

“Those dreams looked pretty important, so I made sure to watch them every time. But ah, if I remember right, isn’t all of this stuff a little bit too advanced for… you know, too advanced for this time?” Katarina would ask, tilting her head.

“Huh? Hm… I don’t see why it would be, especially since there is healing magic.” Chiyome did note how yet again Katarina seemed to be a little bit more aware of things at larger scale, then she should be.

She kind of wanted to ask Katarina her true story right here and there, once again - but decided against it. She would hopefully see it in a dream one day and would be able to start gently from there. 

“Oh, well from what I’ve seen in the dream, you have everything in here already. Ingredients… tools… is something the problem?” Katarina would ask, walking around the workshop taking it all in. It was kind of dusty here, has this been here a while now?

“Yeah, the process is… It would be easier to show you.” Chiyome would begin the process as she remembered it, explaining the steps as she went “Oh, also - what brings you here, anyway? I thought you would be with others.”

“Ah, Geordo and Alan are planning a tea party in the foreseeable future. We’re all invited, I just wanted to tell you myself.” Katarina would answer, as she would observe Chiyome work “Um, aren’t you skipping a step?”

“Huh?” Chiyome would look at Katarina and then narrow her eyes “How… how much of the process do you remember, Katarina?”

“Aaah… I remember quite a lot of it, I think.” Katarina would sweat a little bit, she just had to say something didn’t she “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you, I just thought there was another step there!”

“No, no – you are misunderstanding me. How about you try, maybe you’ll fare better than me.” Chiyome would offer, standing aside. Katarina would stand there awkwardly for a bit, but give it a shot after a while.

* * *

Fast forwarding a few hours later, a batch of white powder would be the result of Katarina’s hard work, she would then perform a little examination. Then smelled it. She didn’t lick it just in case – but it looked and smelled like Aspirin, so in theory it should have been safe to consume.

Still, there were a lot of things she was willing to try - that was not one of those things. 

“Amazing. You are amazing, Katarina.” Chiyome would clap, sporting a gentle smile, she honestly did not expect Katarina to perform so well just from something she saw in a dream.

“T-thank you. Hehe, it feels kind of nice to receive a compliment for something like this.” Katarina said, shamelessly enjoying the genuine praise, it made her feel smart for once. She still thought this was a little bit too advanced to just sort of introduce to the world, but... maybe she was wrong?

“I’ll take this sample and have Lord…” Chiyome would go silent after seeing Katarina’s sudden, but inevitable gaze. She would cough a bit, clearing her throat “And have father take it to the Ministry of Magic for safety testing. Once it passes that, I would like to take you to the Trader's guild, Katarina.”

“Huh? Me? What for?” Katarina would ask, slightly confused.

“To start a joint company, of course – with you at the helm. Hopefully down the line you would have a convenient enterprise to shield you from some of the possible issues which might arise due to me being around. That was the original plan between me and father.” Chiyome smiled radiantly, they were finally getting to the good bits! 

“Oooooh, so that was all father’s plan. Now I get it. He really is smart, isn’t he… well, okay then, if you want – we’ll start that company together! Wait, can children of our age even own a company?”

* * *

Upon further investigation – yes, they could as long as they had permission from their parents, which they currently did. Soon thereafter, the new batch of samples made their way to the Ministry of Magic, into a small branch of the Biomagic Research Department, where it passed the safety test without a hitch.

No one really paid much attention to it, thinking it was an overkill of a product for something relatively insignificant – what interest the product did gather came from the local alchemical team. They were very interested in the method of producing the mysterious compound, but thankfully they could claim it as a trade secret for now.

After getting the permission to sell their product, everything else was easy for a couple of noble children – a trip to Trader’s Guild to register the joint company and register the patent for Aspirin, Katarina had initial reservations about that bit – but Chiyome was having none of that.

“You were the person who made it for the very first time, so it will be registered in your name.” she was being very insistent, at least Chiyome finally felt comfortable enough around her to stand her ground.

With that done – it was just the matter of getting workers and training them, it took around a month in total before the first bottles of Claes-Tablets of Aspirin would be available for purchase.

* * *

The new "Aspirin" would blow up in popularity, obviously. Luigi, Chiyome and pretty much everyone who was not named Katarina underestimate just how useful in application a painkiller would be, to a world with a bare bone medicinal system.

There were not enough light magic users for every farmer working an honest day’s work, every day of the season – or for every maid who would perform her duty around the clock – or every dock worker, hauling heavy boxes of materials from ship to dock and vice versa the whole day. 

People got tired, people got sickly - people got aching muscles all over. And here came a small little pill, making the day just so much more bearable - at a reasonable price at that. And the list of things it helped with was just getting bigger and bigger, as people started to figure out just how and when to use it.

So in short, they were flying off the shelves. It wouldn’t be that long before even the most skeptical person would have a bottle stashed somewhere in their possession. It was the medical revolution of their lifetime.

The revolution Katarina and Chiyome found themselves right in the middle of, they were in sort of damage control state, alongside with Luigi and Miri. Obviously, the cat was out of the box – so they had to provide the “miracle cure” to the people. 

Which meant up-scaling the production to meet the demand – all while said demand kept going up, so much so they have received the word from the Crown, what they were hereby to prioritize supplying the kingdom before considering shipping their stock overseas. As if they were planning to do that.

At the very least, even with the relatively low price for a pack of Aspirin, they were really making money hand over fist – so up-scaling wasn’t an issue, what was an issue – the interest the medical community took with Katarina, as the patent clearly had her as the inventor! 

Or well, the “medical community” perhaps was giving it too much credit – there was no widespread medical practice in Sorcier, or anywhere for that matter. 

The most complex medical installation would be Ministry of Magic’s infirmary, every other doctor would usually practice medicine on their own, or would be a light magic user. 

So, given the bare bones state of medicine around the world - a discovery as major as this one, caught the attention of everyone who had enough pride in their heart to call themselves a doctor. They all wanted to know what was the story behind it and while Katarina didn’t mind hosting all of them, what would she tell them? 

“Oh, you see - I saw how to make it in a dream, which my sister saw.” Katarina shuddered at the mental image, they would invent insane asylum on the spot, just for her. That would be even worse than exile! Stuck in a padded cell for all eternity. 

Overall, it was a disaster, one which no one really knew how to approach, Geordo and Alan were at a loss, but did mention their father was willing to place a large batch of orders, or rather they HAD to mention that. Mary would offer some actual direct help in teaching people how to start mass cultivation of meadowsweet and Kieth…

Kieth would just take the whole situation in and would rub his forehead.

“Sisters… have you devised this as a racket for every time you’re going to cause all of us headaches?” He would ask, with a gentle smile - he thought that was a good joke.

To be fair, with everyone laughing it was hard to say it wasn’t a good joke. 

Still…

A few weeks into this madness, Chiyome would rouse Katarina during the night.

“I think I have a solution, but it might be a bit… extreme.” She would mutter, clearly having given it a significant amount of thought.

“Mmm… Chiyome? What… what solution did you have?” Katarina was all ears, looking at her companion in crime suddenly wide awake. 

“We have to summon lord Asclepius and let him sort our mess.”

_ “Oh.” _

That…

… that could work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As some of you might have summurised, "She is the strongest in the world", reffers not only to memorable quote from Illya in Fate franchise, but also to the fact what Katarina will get herself stuck in these insane situations and will come out on top.  
> I felt this is important, as the pacing of the story will be relatively inconsistent and a lot of really overpowered or nonsensicle situations will come up - that is by design. 
> 
> But yes, this chapter has been a great struggle for me, so I hope you all can still enjoy it, despite all of the troubles which have been included in it. As always, thank you for reading my story. :>
> 
> Oh and, in the future I will most likely make "interlude" chapters for characters I am not developing enough in the story, to give them something or somewhere to shiny about.


	6. Chapter 5 - Objects at Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katarina performs the second summoning of her lifetime, much to her chagrin.

Having discussed their plan of action for a little bit, both of them decided to go back to sleep. They would need to run the plan by the rest of the family and doing so in the middle of the night would be unwise. The very next day however, having gathered everyone they would lay the cards down on the table.

Chiyome would go in a little bit of details about lord Asclepius, about how he was her realms god of medicine and how he was the one who managed to conquer death, only having to step away from mortal realm after being smitten by the chief deity of the time frame he lived in. A person with unshakeable love for medicine and rare patients. She surmised that if he would follow Katarina in spirit form, he could guide her in how to best manage this situation without making her look like a fool, as well as take the lead in the medicine production.

Anne had a lot of opinions but opted not to state any of them, as she usually done as of late – just as she did with the medicine her mistresses produced. She could have stopped lady Chiyome and lady Katarina from sending that miracle drug off to be produced, as she was probably the only person in the household who had no doubt it would revolutionize the way people would approach medicine. Obviously, to do so would be a grave crime – especially since she could be there for both of them, to help with many troubles which followed. Still… there were no regrets on that front.

Kieth was in turn, a little bit worried about even more people to content with, but after hearing Chiyome’s description of the person they wanted to summon forth, as well as Katarina’s second hand dream impressions of Asclepius, he would have no objections – he sounded like someone who would have absolutely zero interest in his sister as anything but his anchor to this world.

Miri and Luigi on the other hand, found the idea appealing, however they were concerned if it was safe for Katarina to attempt yet another ritual of summoning. They didn’t understand how the process worked and in their opinion – everything unknown was dangerous. Still, they had Chiyome and they could pull on other resources if the need would rise up – so their decision was one of a cautious optimism. On the condition they would all be present.

“In that case, it might be wise to invite everyone in the known.” Keith would add “I’m fairly sure others would feel left out if you didn’t invite them to observe something as important as this.”

“Ah, that is true…” Katarina would mutter, looking at her parents.

“As long as we can provide sufficient safety, it should not be a problem.” Miri would reply “However, it’s up to them if they want to attend.”

* * *

It went without saying what no one said “no” to the question if they wanted to see Katarina attempt another summoning. Truly, this was something they couldn’t afford to miss. As such, everyone gathered with little fuss in one of the upcoming evenings – once everyone was present, they all headed to the summoning circle, at the edge of the estate wall.

Upon their arrival, they would however be met by a little bundle of white fur, patiently waiting for them just around the rune.

“Huh? _**Fou**_?!” Chiyome would exclaim, as everyone turned to face her, the young kunoichi would fidget and blush, that was a bit awkward.

“Huh? You know that little thing?” Katarina would look between Chiyome and Fou “So that sound it makes, it’s a name?”

“Fou.” the fluffy beast would reply and then would walk closer to the group, stopping in front of Katarina as if expecting something.

“Can’t say I ever saw an animal quite like this.” Miri would admit, looking at Fou – at the very least he didn’t look too threatening “Wait, have you seen him before, Katarina?”

“Sure did, he’s the one who guided me here to begin with!” Katarina would take a deep breath and would try taking Fou into her hands. Fou turned out to be even softer and fluffier than he looked. “Woah, so soft.”

“So is this your handiwork then, master Merlin…” Chiyome would mutter as everyone was examining Fou, honestly she should have suspected that a long time ago. She would then smile and look at Fou “Well, in any event – it’s nice to see you again, Fou.”

“Fou?” the fluffy bundle would look at Chiyome, tilting its head just so.

“Ah, understood. Yes, a different version.” Chiyome seemed to be able to understand what Fou was saying, everyone looking between the two skeptically.

“Fou.” Clearly, Fou was satisfied with that answer.

Before everyone started asking Chiyome questions, Katarina took the matters into her own hands “Well, anyway – the time is right, so let’s begin! Everything else can wait. Please, stand back.”

Everyone would do as she asked, taking a step back and letting her place the appropriate catalyst at the center of the rune – in this particular case the catalyst was a batch of medicine they made just earlier today, they really put their everything into it to make sure it turned out the best quality they could achieve. After that, Katarina would take position just in front of the rune, looking at the corner of the wall – just like last time.

“I shall begin now.” Katarina said, as she raised her right hand forward.

_**“I hereby propose, give thy body unto me”.** _

Everyone would look intently as Katarina began her chant, Mary’s eyes were glued to Katarina’s every motion and her ear focused on every word and intonation, Kieth and Alan were making sure Katarina was looking healthy and Geordo…

His focus was explicitly on the rune, it appeared to be completely inert when they arrived, lacking any sort of magical charge, but the moment Katarina began to chant it started radiating energy. She couldn’t possibly have that much magical energy, could she? She barely could lift a little bit of earth.

_**“Give thy sword unto my hands.”** _

The rune started to shift, everyone could see something was changing – Keith just like Geordo would start paying more attention to the rune as wave after wave of magical energy would start spinning akin to a whirlpool, it gathered an impressive amount of magical energy and Katarina was just starting.

_**“If in accordance to the summons of the Holy Grail, thou dost accede to this will, this reason, then answer me!”** _

Katarina’s command seals would light up through her glove, as her hair would motion in the stream of magical energy.

Mary would just gaze upon Katarina, how majestic she looked – like a true lady of mysteries. She couldn’t quite discern magical flow like Geordo or Keith, but even she felt the growing magical pressure – she was not alone, too…

_**“I hereby swear, I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world!”** _

The rune would begin to glow an ominous red light, very similar to the glow Katarina’s command seals were giving off, the incredible amount of magical energy would start pouring from the rune upwards like a pillar of light, calling beyond time and space.

It was terrifying, yet magnificent as Geordo or Keith could attest – finally as a few more seconds would pass.

_**“Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”** _

The stream of magic would then condense on itself as fast as it filled the air, a bright flash would fill the clearing, blinding everyone momentarily. When once again they could see – instead of the medicine placed upon the rune, there was a man.

He stood proudly, clad in long black robes which Katarina would classify more like futuristic surgical gown, his long white hair would go beyond his hip and turn alabaster red by the end. His dull green eyes would finally stop on Katarina, as he would speak up.

“Caster. Asclepius. Let’s start the examination, shall we.” he would ask, pulling his gloves up slightly, as a big majority of gathered guests would fling away “What? You summon me, yet you don’t wish to be examined?”

He would look over everyone again, this time his eyes would stop at another young girl in a dress. He would observe her for a moment, before breaking into laughter. Everyone would look between each other, nervously.

“Oh my, I did not recognize you wearing something quite so… highly fashionable. Very well, Chiyome. I have no doubts you will explain to me what’s going on.”

The young kunoichi would fidget uncomfortably in place, maybe this was not such a great idea, huh.

* * *

“You two _idiots_!”

To say he was not pleased with their explanation, was to say nothing – immediately after hearing their story Asclepius would dispense his judgment, flicking Katarina and Chiyome on the forehead. Katarina got off relatively easy, Chiyome however – did not. She was a heroic spirit after all, so the resulting flick was highly audible and would leave her rubbing her forehead.

“What did you think would happen?” he would ask “Or rather, did you think at all? Ah, if only I could cure stupidity, I would prescribe you something right now.”

Everyone else present for the stern talk was currently staying silent, doing their own thing. Miri and Luigi were making sure the berating did not reach unreasonable levels, Alan, Keith and Geordo were pondering about the display of magic Katarina showed them and Mary was sketching something down, trying to be as subtle as possible about it.

Asclepius in turn, would ignore all of them and just rub the bridge of his nose.

“But I can’t say your solution to the problem is stupid. In fact, as long as you can listen to me, it will work just fine.” this time he was talking to Katarina “Yes, actually this should work out nicely.”

“Uh-oh.” Chiyome would mutter, she knew that tone too well, he had something on his mind.

“This world is different from mine, as such there is no doubt many interesting cases and studies to perform, but to get to that point we will have to finish this little medical revolution you two scatterbrains started.” Asclepius would point at Chiyome and Katarina “You specifically, master. You will have to bear the brunt of it, as I would like to remain inconspicuous.”

“Now wait a minute! What do you mean Katarina has to take the brunt of it?!” Miri was outraged to hear something like that just being said so… casually.

“What I mean by that, I will use her as an angel to the masses. Someone who would bring the gift of medicine into millions of lives, stave death off with a motion of her hand and educate many a future doctor with her word. Even if I’ll have to put those words into her mouth.” Asclepius would turn to look at Lady Claes “I understand this might not be what you want, but the master has skipped several centuries of medical progress and kick-started something that will get out of control, fast. There are some real, dangerous side effects to every medication - people need to know how to use them correctly.”

Asclepius would then rub his forehead a bit, trying to process the memories entrusted to him upon his summoning.

“And you appear to be in a position to take control of things, enlighten the masses so to say. Just think about it this way, if you follow my very simple advice – your family name will go down in history as a family who saved millions, nay, billions of people. I have the talent and knowledge and you have the means to realize that talent and knowledge. So, become my patrons in a sense and I will make it well worth your while.”

“As long as it doesn’t hurt Katarina.” Miri said, letting most of the temptations to just pass by her ear. She didn’t care and didn’t want to care about any of the nonsense he was trying to tempt her with, she was just focused on her family.

“Of course. After all, I am god of medicine. And Chiyome for all of her sins...” He would glare at the kunoichi “is amazingly competent where it counts. Between the two of us, no harm will come to Master. And even if something were to happen… to stave off death for her should be an easy enough task for me.”

He would turn to Katarina and kneel in front of her “So, master. What do you say? The road in front of you will not be easy, but I will put it like that. You are the type of an idiot, who cares way too much about other people. That is the kind of masters I always tend to get drawn towards, perhaps because I care more than I should myself, so tell me – would you suffer hardships, to save people you’ve never met and perhaps never will.”

Asclepius would stare adamantly into Katarina’s eye. Katarina would try to look back, but it was difficult. It was a lot to take in, but his words… they did stir something inside her. She was a villainess, she knew that much, that was her designated role in life, but at the same time...

At the same time, just because she was born evil, doesn’t mean she wasn’t capable of good things. She would look him in the eyes properly, the odd feeling inside her chest roaring, she would gather her courage and said “I would.”

He would merely chuckle and ruffle her head “Idiot. Then again, only an idiot would get an idiot master. Very well then, I Asclepius officially recognize you as my master.”

He would then look everyone over and with a sweet smile said “Examinations begin as soon as we get to the house. Please be ready to fill out your patient forms.”

* * *

He was not bluffing at all, once they all reached the house he would perform examination checks on everyone, princes, servants, bodyguards included. Everyone was deemed acceptably healthy, however he did make a few notes about Anne of all people. As he would explain, once he would set up his workshop he would provide her anti-scarring solution, but until then asked her to thoroughly clean it daily in preparation for treatment.

Anne honestly wasn’t sure how to even react to that, apart from nodding and excusing herself.

“So wait, if you can heal scars, can you heal this one?” Katarina would poke at her forehead, anxious to get an answer not realizing how several heads were staring at her intently, one of them being Geordo with his face aghast.

“I could. But I will not, as it has value to it. Sorry, Master.” Asclepius would smirk, enjoying the outraged look he would get, as well as a singular one - of gratitude “Besides, you will soon have more pressing issues then the scarring. These letters you mentioned, I would like you to invite all of them, at the same time.”

“Huh? At the same time?!” Katarina would think, lifting her head up to stare at the ceiling a bit “That would be a huge convention, if I were to do that.”

“Precisely. First medical convention, at which you would give a speech. With the help of yours truly. We will achieve many things simultaneously if we were to do that, so I insist you do as I asked.”

“It would be really expensive…” Katarina would begin and stop right there, meeting the stern look of disapproval. “W-well, we did make quite a bit of money out of the whole situation, so ugh.. s-sure!”

“I’m sure whatever it is, we will be able to help, Katarina.” Mary would insist, she wasn’t quite sure what a convention was, but if it was a convenient stepping stone – it was well worth using.

Geordo and Kieth would look at Mary suspiciously, the girl was turning more and more fierce and meticulous by the day, it was hard to imagine it had only been a few months since they met her.

“Oh, I would love some help, Mary!” Katarina was just glad to have her trusty friends and family by her side, this was surely to get pretty rough really soon…

In the end, they all just wondered what kind of tricks Asclepius was going to pull from his proverbial hat.

* * *

Turned out he had plenty of tricks of all sizes and variations. Having shaken off a sizable amount of funds from both Chiyome and Katarina, he began immediately on creating wonders of medicine, specifically machinery for drug manufacture – he thankfully possessed “Item construction” skill, which made the process a breeze. In fact, his particular skill in that matter was useless in anything but medicine, but when it came to his passion – none could rival him.

So by the time the invitations were sent out, the production of Aspirin had finally started to meet the full demand – it truly was amazing how much more efficient everything was when designed just right. Luigi estimated that if the profits would remain stable, at the new production rate they would make up all of the investment from day one in just a few weeks, which was reassuring.

Of course, Asclepius made it known he was not going to let them stop at just producing general painkillers, he already had his eyes on the basics – penicillin, insulin, various vaccines and other necessities of modern medicine, including sterile tools. The more exotic, custom made solutions meant for this world specifically would follow after. All of that meant getting a lot of labor force, plenty of workshop space and raw ingredients – all of which had to be signed off by Katarina… in person.

[Katarina in turn would just let out a sigh, for someone just shy of being nine and a half she was doing an awful lot of paperwork,](https://i.imgur.com/jRoBl0U.jpg) she just hoped this wasn’t going to be her life from this point onward – wake up, have some sweets, then file hundreds of pages of paperwork until the day she died. This would be dreadful.

But still, that warm and fuzzy feeling inside her chest was carrying her through the hardships, the idea that their effort here could help the normal folk live a better life, it was something worth fighting for. Speaking of warm and fuzzy, this time Fou decided to tag along with the group, mostly Katarina, however he did spend some time with Chiyome periodically as well. The little bundle of fur would be pretty effective at combating Katarina’s own fear of dogs and soon he was yet another member of her growing family, which brought a wide smile to her face.

The path ahead was sure to be filled with hardships. At the end of the road, her doom could await her. And yet, all of the uncertainty in the word could not change her stance on one thing.

_ It was good to be Katarina Claes.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--- New Servant Summoned! ---  
> True Name: Asclepius   
> Class: Caster  
> Alignment: True Neutral  
> STR: D, END: D, AGI: B, MANA: A, LUCK: D, NP: A+  
> Height/Weight: 170cm・60kg  
> Divinity Rank: A  
> Item Construction Rank: EX  
> Territory Creation Rank: A
> 
> Asclepius is a hero of Greek myth who studied under Chiron and later became known as the “God of Medicine”.  
> He was also a member of the Argonauts led by Jason.  
> Being a child of Apollo, he eventually gained the power to resurrect the dead, which was viewed as a problem, and thus he was struck down by godly thunder.
> 
> Does not forgive those who lie about their height and weight when filling out forms.
> 
> Item Creation: EX  
> He’s only able to make tools related to medicine, but they’re all of top quality performance.
> 
> \--- New characters of note ---  
> Asclepius - the hardass doctor who likes tormenting Katarina with insufferable amount of paperwork. Doesn't like patients who don't listen to him. Is actually kind of a tsundere.


	7. Chapter 6 - Moments of Transition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Katarina sinks deeper and deeper into the paperwork hell, a new possibility shows itself on the horizon.

It took some time for Katarina to adjust to her new daily schedule, as well as her workload – for all of his seeming compassion as a doctor, Asclepius was a ruthless slave-driver, dumping enough workload onto her to rival her father, who was a duke for crying out loud!

Of course, something like that was expected, in a way. Chiyome would usually take care of Claes family business, something she was better at then Katarina – she couldn’t spend hours helping her with the company business in addition to that, even if it was a joint venture. So, the entire upper management of one of the fastest growing enterprises ever was consistent of a nine and a half year old brat. Excellent.

Of course, Katarina would much rather relax somewhere with her friends, or tend to her garden - or even do literally any other chore, rather than paperwork - but sadly, she was the boss and things had to happen. 

“Maybe I should consider hiring someone to help me manage all of this…” Katarina would sigh, leaning into the chair. “No, no one else would understand half of what the good doctor is writing. Grrr.”

That was perhaps the most infuriating thing about the good doctor, he was set in his ways and would only refer to something by the proper medical term. He taught all of them to her and she knew some from her previous life, but anyone else would be hopelessly confused. Still, not all of the paperwork came from the good doctor, so maybe she could delegate at least some of the work.

Still, there were perks to this whole mess - mother and father took her hard work in stride, even allocating one of the rooms in the mansion to be her office, of course she almost always studied in this room to begin with, but now it sounded way cooler. It was spacious and comfortable, with a lot of room to place important documents and books, as well as a couch - which was currently occupied by Fou. 

In addition to pleasing mother and father by her hard work, Katarina felt like her friends really had a moment to bond between each other and still finding time in their day to help her, all in their own unique way - but still, it was nice seeing them bond over this.

But going back to business, in the end it all just sort of became a routine. Thankfully, being eighteen years old or so in one’s head helped significantly. She did wonder at times if she should count herself as twenty-six and a half year old or eighteen year old on the inside and after some pondering decided what she wouldn’t count her pre-awakening years as Katarina against her own age.

Speaking of age, she was about half way to her tenth birthday, wasn’t she. That meant that Chiyome has been around for about half a year now, time sure did fly when you had fun. Katarina would look at her stack of paperwork, which she still hasn’t touched and then at the time. Yeah, sounds about right.

“Gah, enough of this, these won’t sign themselves. But I need to remember to get her something nice… ” Katarina would mutter to herself as she would focus on her work.

The first bit of business was a bunch of requests for building materials, there were a lot of projects currently in the works for all of the different products Asclepius was eager to begin manufacturing, all of that needed a lot of space – factories to be precise. Bricks, steel beams, rivets, as well as other construction materials – all of the good stuff.

Katarina would wonder, just how much of a killing the construction business was making off of her, she was able and willing to pay through the nose to have the materials provided fast and in good quality - which left no shortage of people looking to sell. 

Something father would usually not approve of, but Lord Claes knew better than to comment on the matter at that very moment, he was not looking towards being a victim of patricide, after all.

“Anyway, that’s done. Let’s see what’s next.” Katarina would put away the stack of papers related to construction and would look over what was next - the paper looked expensive with a slight golden trim, which only meant one thing - crown requests.

Those were as always composed by Geordo and Alan, this was their unique way of helping her in a way, so they were pretty straight forward – this particular batch was addressing the crown’s wish to reserve a certain amount of their future products. They aren’t even out yet, but they already want some - seems like Aspirin really made an impression.

“Well, I suppose there’s no real reason to decline.” she would hum, starting to sign all of those - the terms were fair and she was helping Geordo and Alan, as they were helping her - so it was a win/win in her books.

“Then again, it is a little bit scary having to deal with the Crown.” Katarina mused, Geordo was a friend, but he was still a sadistic prince with the most devilish smile. So in a way, Katarina hoped their parents were more like Alan, rather than Geordo.

“Fou. Fou fou~” she would hear, Fou seemingly woke up from his nap.

“Good business, yes – but still scary. Had a nice nap, Fou?” she would look over in Fou’s direction, it was actually not that difficult at all to understand him after a while… but everyone still glared at her, whenever they would discuss something. Gah, she was going off topic again!

“Oh, right – this again. Inviting such a huge amount of people is such a pain!” she would exclaim as she would get around to the part of her workload which was sorting everything related to doctor’s convention. Catering, bedding, venues, transportation and invitations. Just a whole mess of things - especially since the planned convention has made it into the rumor mill, as such it gathered unwanted correspondence in addition to all of that.

With a groan, she would sort through these as fast as she could – she was both looking forward to the convention and dreading it, the reduced workload sounded heavenly - the speech she would have to give there, however… made her tremble and her knees shake. 

“Huh? Why is this letter in here?” Katarina would sound rather annoyed, she always asked for the paperwork to be sorted before it would be brought to her – but among the convention papers she would find a letter from Marquis Hunt, asking for favors.

Or rather no, he was offering services, but really he was asking for favors – specifically he was offering to begin mass cultivation of different flowers and trees which would be in high demand in the near future, once the factories would be built and start producing their new products. The only thing he wanted in return was the priority on acquisition of goods from his land first, over anyone else.

“I guess Mary couldn’t help but throw a few hints to her father. Well, nothing wrong with a little nepotism, I suppose.” Katarina would call for Anne and together they would draft a letter agreeing to such a partnership, she figured Marquis would be making an absolute killing off of these sales. Or rather, she knew for a fact that would make the Hunts very, very wealthy - but it would also help Mary a significant amount, so it was worth it. 

‘Thank you Anne, please take these papers with you and don’t forget to apply the ointment this time! Thank you again.” Katarina smiled radiantly before going back to work, the ointment really was working wonders on Anne’s scar, but she seemed to have been unsure about it for some reason. As such, Katarina made a point to remind her to apply it every now and again.

The leftover work for today after the convention issues seemed to be correspondence from neighbouring kingdoms, having finally caught up on local supply of Aspirin the Crown once again allowed the export of the “miracle cure”, so literally everyone wanted in on the action. Katarina would groan - that meant her workload just increased exponentially.

Still, there wasn’t much left so she just powered through those, making arrangements, writing up notes and reminders and figuring out where to begin looking for shipping partners. It was not long until she reached the last piece of work for today, to her increased ire it was once again an unsorted letter - this time from Asclepius.

“Master, I am writing to you... invitation... to a very special guest. It came to my attention what a new user of light magic has been discovered in a small border village… bla bla bla…” she would skim through the letter, until her eyes would stop at the name of the light mage in question. She would shudder on instinct.

“ _Maria… Campbell._ ”

* * *

It must have been a good twenty or so minutes Katarina was just staring at that one, singular line of text. This was not something she expected whatsoever, even if she probably had to anticipate Asclepius would eventually find light magic of this world interesting, at the very least.

This was… problematic, to say the least. Maria Campbell would be the catalyst to her doom - someone she was dreading to meet once she grew up a little bit and would head to the academy. She was not ready for this, how she could escape her doom if she was not ready.

Katarina would shake a little bit, thinking about losing it all - her loving family, her friends, her purpose in life - she made plans for that possibility of course, but they haven’t come to the fruition yet. What to do, what was she supposed to do?

The sudden onset of panic was then cut short as quickly as it came, as Fou would unceremoniously hop onto her lap, then snuggling into her stomach. She would look down and instinctively pet him, all of the worries melting into nothing.

“Fou.” well, Fou never really minced words, but this was just brutal. Not untrue, however.

“Yeah, I suppose. Sorry. Yeah, whatever it is - I can get through this. I have my family, my friends… everyone. I can’t give up on everyone, no matter how hard it might be. Still…” Katarina would think about it, there was no way Asclepius would stop bothering her about Maria, now what he knew about her - he was a stubborn man. She could use a command seal to make him not mention her for a while, but that would be a breach of trust, she felt.

“Well, since I don’t see any other solution…” Katarina would mutter, looking at the letter again “Then, I’ll just have to change the plot! Avoid the doom flags! Make friends with Maria and help her find her true love among the capture targets!”

“Fou?” Katarina was not making any sense to Fou, who would tilt his head and just stare at her.

“Aaah, well - I mean it would be nice to make friends with her. Teehee. Just yeah, ignore what i just said.” she would reach immediately for a fresh parchment and would start writing an invitation to the Campbell household. She was looking forward to meeting Maria, even if she was walking towards her own potential doom.

* * *

It took another week for the reply to come in, the answer was rather blunt and rude, but could have been described as a simple - no. Thankfully, it was not Katarina who saw that particular letter, but Chiyome - who would often check all of the letters arriving to Katarina, to check them for any nasty surprises. Reading over the letter, the young kunoichi frowned - she wasn’t sure why, but Katarina was actually quite excited to meet this Maria Campbell person.

She knew that, as Katarina would constantly mention her and would ask if the reply from the Campbell household came yet, this was… rather unfortunate. Of course, she would not let this stand - but she had to figure out what to do, preferably without making Katarina upset.

Chiyome would hide the letter and deliver the rest of what she went through to Katarina, who was busy at work, signing the papers at an impressive speed. The two would exchange pleasantries, then Katarina went back to work - the stack of papers was larger when she was, physically - which was not an uncommon occurrence. 

Having delivered everything, Chiyome would then head to her room and would ponder on how to solve this problem. She figured it was the girls mother who declined their invitation, she probably did that with every noble family coming out of the woodworks, now that her daughter was known to have a gift. Still, Claes name was prestigious and it felt like an insult to receive such a… rejection, especially since Katarina offered to pay for literally all of their expenses.

Eventually, Chiyome would reach a conclusion - Maria Campbell would be attending, whenever her mother wanted it or not. In fact, wouldn’t it just be so much easier if that obstacle just… disappeared. The young kunoichi would change into something more form fitting, before heading out of her room - outside.

“Going somewhere, Chiyome?” she would hear Asclepius, as he would materialize alongside her, looking at her, rather sternly. 

“... yes, heading for a walk, lord Asclepius. Did you want something?” she would ask, her face not betraying any emotions, but her body would twitch ever so slightly. 

“For a ninja, you are a bad liar.” Asclepius would motion forward with his hand, he would walk alongside her “I just wanted to make sure to remind you, Master would not appreciate that.”

“Appreciate what, lord Asclepius?” Chiyome would grate her teeth against each other a bit. He was right, but still.

“Murder, Chiyome. Your face, your posture, your walk and the content of the letter you tried to hide all suggest there is scent of murder in the air.” he would suddenly ruffle Chiyome’s hair, ever so slightly “She’s no murderer and if she was to find out, your relationship could be strained forever. Is it really worth it?”

Chiyome would stop, looking away. 

“As long as Katarina gets what she wants, it doesn’t matter how she sees me, lord Asclepius. It’s worth it as long as it would make her happy.” Chiyome would answer, she truly believed that.

“And you really think she would be happy if she found out you killed a woman in cold blood for saying “no”? I object to that simply on grounds of being a doctor, even if I too, wish Katarina got what she wanted, not even taking my own wishes into consideration.” Asclepius would then smack Chiyome on the head pretty hard “She would be devastated, you idiot! You are like sisters, she doesn’t see you as a tool to accomplish her goals! Neither did Ritsuka, when you will finally get that into that thick head of yours?!”

“Ow!” Chiyome would rub her head, looking at Asclepius now “I.. I suppose that is true… but… she would be so sad if they wouldn’t attend!”

“I never said I am against forcing them to attend, Chiyome. I am merely against killing someone who could be useful in cold blood.” Asclepius would stop “I have a much better plan, one which sate your violent urge and leave everyone happy.” 

Chiyome would turn to face him once again.

_**“I am all ears.”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly a chapter to setup a slightly longer then usual chapter following. No illustration this time, sorry for that! Been busy with another art project.
> 
> Ah, I also want to stress a point which some people always forget about - servants are not people. Even if they are heroic spirits, even a lawful good servant has a relatively small amount of "chill" when it comes to normal people. Sure, the most wholesome and good natured servants might prefer other means of action - but for most heroic spirits, normal people are just tools to achive their goals, same as the servants are tools for their masters.
> 
> Example, the black faction in Apocrypha used homunculi as power sources, as shown with Sieg, they are quite real people, even if artificial. But even Astolfo, helped Sieg just because he felt like it, not for any other reason. Same as Siegfried and others.


	8. Chapter 7 - The Very Long Night of Cecilia Campbell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katarina's convention for doctors is finally a go! Everything goes according to plan and as the saying goes, all's well what ends well.

The two of them would wait until just days before the convention to execute their new plan. If their calculations were correct - and they had no reason to doubt them - it would take exactly two days for their carriage to arrive at the venue, once they would finish their preparations.

Asclepius would spend these few days working on his part of the plan - mostly gathering rare materials for the grand finale, while Chiyome prepared herself mentally. When finally it was time to act, they said nothing to each other – just exchanged a nod and smiled to one another, before moving on to act.

Chiyome would make her way to Campbell’s house, it was a few days away on a good carriage. For a servant however, especially one as agile and trained as her – it was just a matter of hours. She would arrive at their doorstep as the night would cover Sorcier in all of its beauty. 

Well, the night was about to be a lot less beautiful for them, but that’s trivial matters – Chiyome would enable her presence concealment, just in case. She was fairly sure she could sneak in just on pure skill alone, but there was no point not to take this little precaution.

After enabling her insurance policy, Chiyome would lockpick the door – to her surprise the lock held more then a couple of seconds, it was almost as good as locks in Claes mansion. She figured that must have been a new addition to the household, but would not dwell on it - opting to enter, moving silent like a shadow. 

“ _Step one…_ ” Chiyome thought to herself as she would start investigating the household “ _Relevant information and preparations._ ”

She would look around, making sure Maria would have enough access to coins to make the trip, in case the local authority would not provide a carriage for her under the circumstances - during the search she would stumble upon the original invitation, written by Katarina. Odd, she figured they would throw it away weeks ago, what were they playing at?

Well, it did make her job easier - as she would not have to “misplace” yet another invitation. Having figured those two specific bits, she would proceed to step two - examining her targets. Maria was first – Chiyome would infiltrate her room and look around, then look the girl over. 

She was in good health, no obvious damage which would prevent her from going, which was good news. She did also note, she was about Katarina’s age – perhaps they would be friends yet.

Still, it was time to examine the main course - Chiyome left Maria’s room and would sneak into the room of one Cecilia Campbell. The mother of the household was sleeping alone on a double sized bed - turning in her dreams, she probably wasn’t having the nicest of the bunch. Still, she looked in good enough health where she wouldn’t roll over and die immediately. 

“Now onto step three.” Chiyome would reach into a little pouch she brought along and get out a vial of powder, which she would carefully dump onto the floorboard. A little enchanted dust, made by lord Asclepius – a suitable vessel for her sin. Yes, it was a sin to put an innocent through this, but she couldn’t really find it in herself to really care. Perhaps she would one day – but not today.

“ _ **Curse this sin of mine, curse this blood of mine**_.” she would whisper, this was perhaps the most dangerous part – as she had to actually pronounce these words, thankfully miss Campbell did not rouse awake. Chiyome would then bite into her thumb, enough to draw blood and then would sacrifice the tiniest of droplets into the powder to give birth to a most detestable creature. 

An alabaster white snake would form itself out of the powder and her venomous blood. Yes, perhaps she wasn’t as potent as Lady Serenity, who’s mere touch could kill all but the most resilient to poisons, but the curse within her blood was still more than enough to kill a servant – let alone a human.

It took all of Chiyome’s willpower to not shudder, looking at the snake – she never would get used to them, even if turning into one would be her destiny once again, some day. Still, having gathered the willpower she would motion to the snake to strike, as she would vacate the building, covering up her traces.

The alabaster snake would slither towards Miss Campbell, easily scaling the bed and approaching her thigh, it would lay in wait for a few seconds, before striking. The scream which followed, would be heard for some distance. Chiyome’s job here was done.

She just hoped the second ingredient would work as expected of it by both her and lord Asclepius. Her blood, even a droplet of it – would obviously kill a human almost immediately, it would be a horrible, cursed death, a lifetime of pain and horror compressed into several visceral seconds. However, with her blood deluded with a powerful healing agent – Miss Campbell should have exactly enough time to serve her purpose in their plan.

Now, obviously under normal circumstances they would just see a local doctor or a healer, instead of making a difficult trip somewhere - that was pretty straightforward…

However, as unfortunate as it was for Miss Campbell, every specialist for miles was currently occupied with something else. _How truly unfortunate._

Chiyome felt a smile creeping up to her face, as she made her way home.

* * *

Maria Campbell was living through a nightmare made manifest. It was a sad reality, for someone like her – the “gift” so many would sacrifice so much for, to her – was just the crux of all evils in the world. 

Her father left, her mother was growing distant – her neighbors didn’t want to have anything to do with her. It was like as if – to power the wonderful light of her magic, all the light had to be drained from her life.

So when her mother let out a blood curdling scream in the middle of the night, Maria felt fear. She would dash to her mother’s room, finding her trying to grip a snake away from herself – the vile creature was holding adamantly onto her – she did not hesitate and would rush to help her mother, grabbing the first blunt object she could to daze the serpent.

By the time they got the accursed snake, Maria noticed her mother was not looking very well, she was sweating and breathing heavily – the bitten spot was also bleeding with a particularly dark blood.

“H-honey… I don’t feel… so.. w-well…” Maria heard her mother as she passed out, the snake must have been venomous! She would throw the now dead snake into the nearby pot and closed the lid before rushing to heal her mother – the light magic would attempt it’s thing, but for the first time since she knew of it – it failed to achieve a result. 

Or rather, it did work – it really did, she felt it. However, something about this venom was unnatural, no matter how much she pushed her magic through, it only mildly slowed down the spread of it. Like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it. 

“No no no, this cannot be happening.” Maria would panic, this was some sort of cruel joke – the one gift which took everything from her, the one time in her life so far she truly needed it to work and it didn’t, it had to be some cruel joke or a dream, she felt herself lose control of her body... only to be brought back to reality, as someone kicked down the door downstairs.

It was not long before a pair of local watchmen would make their way in, they must have heard the scream or commotion, or something along those lines.

“Quick, run and call the doctor! Snake bite, some sort of snake bite!” one of the watchman would take just a glance to guess the situation, he would then move to comfort Maria – he might have had negative feelings toward the possible origin of the girl, but he would be damned if he held them against her in a situation like this.

It would not take more than a few minutes for him to console the girl enough, at which point she would hastily try her magic again, waiting for the doctor. The doctor, who would not come today. The watchman did return, with a local governor in hand, in fact – the one who had the lock installed in their house the other time.

“This is bad… Is she fully unconscious?” the governor was not a man of medicine, but this was not looking good. To turn so pale, so quickly. “Quickly, help me bind up the bite mark, where is the snake, Maria?”

The men would move quickly from there, doing their best in a harsh situation, Maria was about to ask why the doctor was not present, their village was after all lucky enough to have one. It only hit her once she opened her mouth to speak, she knew why he wasn’t there, or why he wouldn’t be there for a few days.

‘No… no, no…” Maria would feint from the shock, only to be roused by being shaken - gently at first, not so gently after.

“Girly, wake up and get decent! We got a carriage waiting to send your mother after the good doctor, but there is no way she’ll survive without you! Wake up, Maria!”

The moment those words hit, Maria would snap her eyes open and make a dash for her room, she didn’t even close the door, just changed on the fly and would be out of the house just as fast, she never before in her life dressed up this fast. 

Indeed, just as she heard on the back of her consciousness, there was a carriage and her mother was already moved into it, she looked pale and twitching in obvious pain, she needed her help right now.

The moment she jumped in, the carriage would start it’s movement, she heard the voice of old Harker beckon his horses to give it their all, as they would start picking up speed fast.

“Please be alright, mother… we’ll catch up to the good doctor, it’s all going to be alright.” Maria was telling that to herself, more so than her mother – as she was trying to pour as much of her strength into her magic and from there, into her mother. She couldn’t lose this fight.

Otherwise, she would be all alone.

All alone in this world.

* * *

Cecilia Campbell was also having a nightmare. Or perhaps, a vision slowly sliding into the realm of delirium. Whatever it was, she was pretty sure she was dying. There was nothing to fight, nothing to lash out onto – not even anyone to comfort her, about the prospect of leaving a lonely daughter in the realm of the living.

The nightmare took the shape of a long forest with a singular path, one she was stumbling through – her legs were giving in, she was confident any moment now she would fall down and the earth would welcome her into it’s cold embrace. It was a scary thought, not one she was comfortable with – in fact, she was scared. She was in pain, alone in a nightmare no human should wake up to.

Finally, she fell – this must be it, the end of the road…

“Hm… so you're just going to die? Just like that?” she heard a familiar voice, her head snapping to see… her own mother, looking exactly how she remembered her. Yeah, she was delirious. “I don’t remember raising no quitter. Get up, girly.”

The phantom which took the shape of her mother, would reach out to give her a hand. She would reach back and felt herself being pulled from the earth, taking a deep breath, she would look at her mother. She tried to speak up, but no words left her mouth.

“Don’t waste your breath, honey. Let bygones be bygones, live – for your daughter’s sake if not for your own.” the phantom would then fade away, leaving just a few sparks of golden light. Cecilia had no idea what all of this meant, but her legs weren’t shaking as much anymore, so she continued on the path.

It felt like an eternity, perhaps it was. She really couldn’t tell, but her strength was leaving her once again. This time, when she falls – someone catches her, the familiar hand – a hand of the man she loved so dearly. The man who left them. Not saying a word, he steadies her and then moves away – deeper into the woods, away from the path.

The urge to chase after him grows, after all – they could be together in here, right? She tries to move after him but then something beckons to her. Cecilia looks around and fixes her eyes on where the path through the woods took her so far. She heard her daughter beckoning her - was she going to abandon her, just like he did?

No. Not while she had the strength to move on. This time, uttering only a groan of pain – Cecilia moved forward, onto the only path available to her – to cling to her life, through the forest without an end.

As she moved deeper and deeper through the nightmare, overcoming every doubt made manifest, every rageful impulse given form, reliving every unpleasant moment she could remember - she wouldered, how and why was she still alive.

The answer was rather simple, really – the only person who was keeping her alive, both physically and mentally. Maria, she couldn’t leave her alone.

She pushed on.

* * *

It was finally the day of the convention and Katarina really had to give the props to herself where it counted – the field which they would transform to work as a venue was absolutely packed with people! Hundreds upon hundreds of faces, it was an absolute logistical nightmare to figure out, for her that is – but holy hell if it did not look good from the side view! 

She, Kieth and Chiyome would personally greet every guest, there was a wild selection of people to take note of, none of them were as young as them, of course – the youngest attendee out of actual practitioners was in his twenties, but still a memorable cast of characters.

Having greeted the last of the guests, Katarina would frown a little bit.

“I guess they didn’t want to come… oh well.” she would sigh “Ah shoot, we have guests to entertain, everyone! Let’s get going.”

Keith would place a hand on Katarina’s shoulder in consolation, as they would move further into the venue. For something as seemingly boring as “convention of doctors” there was a surprising amount of things to do.

Starting from the food – the whole venue was generously sprinkled with food stalls, everything was generously prepaid by Katarina, more than enough to sate all of the guests. Going a little further into it, every eating area was designed in a way which would allow for healthy conversation to happen, before – during or after food, an opportunity many took to just mingle.

Going further, stalls with souvenirs have been placed, with many “souvenirs” actually being very practical appliances made by Asclepius, from full artificial skeletons to convenient Claes branded medical bags. Or well, the brand actually was – Claes Pharmaceutical, but it was a bit of a mouthful to pronounce.

Of course, one couldn’t have a good convention without some fancy advertisement of new medical products, as well as stalls with said product – which of course gathered the biggest crowd. Thermometers, stethoscopes, woman hygiene products, band-aids – all really flashy things prepared by Asclepius just in time for the big showcase. Everything was flying off the shelves, to put it bluntly.

Everything else was just for entertainment and gathered a small, but respectable crowd – not everything in life had to be about work, so some basic faire styled games have been installed on her request – she would gladly play them with her friends, before it was the time for the big speech!

* * *

As the sun would begin to set, everyone would be gathered in front of the main stage, it was time for the speech. The air was full of anticipation, a few attendees were still skeptical about Katarina – however that did not stop them from looking forward to it.

“Okay, don’t panic.. just relax and… aaah, I can’t do this!” Katarina was panicking in the back stage, as Miri was trying to finish transforming Katarina into someone more presentable and giving her performance advice.

“Just repeat after me and you will be fine, Master. After all, don’t you trust me?” Katarina heard telepathically from Asclepius, to be honest - she trusted him with her life, but at the same time did not trust him with this. It was odd, but she was sure he was going to pull some sort of trick on her.

“And this is all even I can do to make you presentable, Katarina. Nothing more to say, just please be mindful of what you’re saying and… good luck!” Miri would in rare display of more motherly love, give Katarina a smooch on the forehead. 

“Well.. here goes nothing! I’ll make you proud, mum!” Having said that, Katarina would venture onto the main stage, trying to look confident and keeping an earnest stride to her step. There were a lot of eyes on her right now, it sure made her nervous. Okay, you got this Katarina. Just repeat. She would clear her throat and would speak up, loudly.

“Greetings, honored guests. I ask of you, a moment of your attention and a moment of silence. Please, listen to my words, just like you listened to my invitations.” Wow, it was straining to talk that loud – she would probably need some medicine herself after she was done with the speech, especially knowing how much Asclepius liked to talk once he got going.

It would take a few seconds, but the clearing would get quiet enough so everyone would hear her.

“Thank you. Once again, I would like to introduce myself – I am your host, Katarina Claes. And you are, my dear guests – students, practitioners and veterans of medicinal art. Healers, doctors, mages – shining beacons of life to those in dire need.”

She would take a small pause, this was a little bit too much flattery for her to dispense – but then again, everyone so far seemed like a rather nice person, even if she didn’t actively chat with many of them during the day.

‘Many of you approached me first, some of you – I approached myself, some of you came along early and some late. All of you, however – tirelessly work to preserve the dignity of your craft. People who uphold the concepts of confidentiality, who look for facts among the sea of lies and deceit and above all – seek not to do harm to your patients.

The speech would drone on, Katarina would touch on many important matters to her guests, she even understood a large portion of what she was saying. All of the work was rubbing off on her, but as speech would carry on - she noticed people still seemed to pay attention to her, so she couldn’t have been doing too bad, right?

Katarina would then physically prevent herself from flinching, as she thought about how she must have looked to all of these people with decades of experience - being told things by a brat like her, oh she was ready to die out of shame right there. Still, she pushed on.

“So please, despite my young age – take my words to heart.” Katarina would breathe easy, she figured from these words the speech was almost over “And look forward to publications of my findings in the future.”

She would then bow, expecting a lukewarm response, but receiving to her surprise, a standing ovation. It would then click in her head, wait – what did she just say? Publi...cations? 

_**“Publications?! I’m not planning to publicize anything!!!”**_ she would scream to Asclepius, via their telepathic link of course “ **Wasn’t publications your idea, anyway?! You do them!** ”

“I’d rather remain an unknown nobody in this world, Master.” Asclepius replied, she could just see the smirk on his smug face, even without actually seeing him “It will do me well in my pursuit of research. Don’t worry, I’ll help you write them – it’s only a collection of twenty or so encyclopedias. Your workload will barely increase from what it used to be.”

“You.. you… you _**asshole**_! I just finished setting this up! I deserve rest!” Katarina just stared into the crowd with a polite smile, as ovations were still going, occupied with cussing with Asclepius.

“Yes? Your point, master?” he would ask, barely holding back laughter “Also, I’m fairly sure that language is inappropriate of a noble lady.”

“Weren’t we supposed to downplay this? Now what I think about it, this speech is rather flamboyant.” Katarina would ask, sounding mentally defeated. At least the ovations made her feel… whole. They were of course, not earned by her hard work - but they still felt good. 

“No, trying to downplay would only bring more attention to you. We’re simply going to make you so exceptional, the people will begin seeing it as a norm. Hiding in plain sight, so to speak.”

“I… don’t like the sound of that.” Katarina would admit, as she finally would head to the backstage.

She did not like the sound of that at all.

Still, those ovations – they were nice. Maybe some wouldn’t hurt at some point down the line.

* * *

After the speech, the first day of the convention would begin wrapping up, there was a select number of people still hanging around in a close circle – discussing different things, among one of them was Katarina with Chiyome, who did manage to find some relatively easy going talking companions – among them were sir Bellingham and lady Lamont, who were employees of the ministry of magics infirmary. They weren’t particularly inquisitive people, even if they did ask an odd question here and there.

It was around that time, one of the people hired to guard the venue would interrupt them.

“Lady Claes! My apologies, but we have an emergency! There’s a carriage which just arrived, it carries a woman – she was apparently bitten by an exotic snake and she is on the verge, they are asking for help!” the guard looked exasperated, he must have runned all of the way here from where the carriages arrived. 

“On my way! Chiyome, ugh… bring whatever you can get your hands on to us, if this is serious anything might come in handy! Um, excuse me.” Katarina would follow the guardsman, both of her guests would look between each other and follow her – three heads surely was better than one, as Chiyome would go and gather the needed medicinal supplies. Luckily, or rather “luckily” everything they would need was prepared in advance, it was all according to plan – after all.

* * *

Having arrived at the scene, Katarina noted there was already a small collection of people gathered around, they seemed to have managed to make temporary bedding for the woman, she did not look good – pale like death, shaking and trembling. There was a bloodied bandage on her thigh and a girl by her side, channeling magic into her… oh no.

Cold sweat would hit Katarina as she realized who this was, she would run closer and would motion everyone to move away, giving her space. 

Maria would look in confusion, as a girl about her age would ask her to move away, before examining her mother. She looked like a noble girl – judging by a dress. Just the lace trim alone must have cost more than a large portion of their house. 

“Have you brought the snake with you? How did it look?” Katarina would ask Maria, not turning to look at her as she would undo the bandages “Oh no, how long ago has she been bitten?”

“Asclepius! I need your help! I have no idea what I’m doing!” Katarina would call for her faithful servant to guide her through this, she could not afford to mess this up – this was Maria's mother, whom SHE invited. Did she get bit on the way here? Was it her fault? 

“T-two days ago or so, I kept trying to heal her, but it’s not working.” Maria managed to say, barely – she was exhausted herself and was running on fumes and willpower alone “The snake is in the pot, that one. It’s dead.”

“I’ve got it.” Bellingham would say, as Katarina was trying to salvage the wounded area – he would carefully peek into the pot after putting on a tough glove and would get out the dead snake “Never seen one quite like this.”

“Some sort of magical beast, otherwise the light magic would purge the venom.” Lamont would say, speaking from experience “What a mess… we need to stabilize her condition first and then think of a way to get the venom out.”

“I’ve got the things!” That was Chiyome, carrying a rather impressively packed medical bag with virtually everything they had available for remedies, putting it close and moving away to observe everyone’s work… and not to let anyone see her face, as her fake expression of concern could raise questions. 

“Okay, please mix these two while I treat the wound – I don’t think it’s possible to get the venom out now, it’s been too long – but we might be able to sustain her to the point where magic might save her.” Katarina would relay orders given to her by Asclepius, taking a commanding tone – as she would make a small cut on the bite mark, to get more surface area.

Magical wounds like that, they never really would stop on their own – one could stem the bleeding with a bandage – but it was akin to a death sentence, unless a proper treatment would be applied.

“Maria, you’re Maria, right?” Katarina would ask “Please, channel some of your magic into her while I work, try to stem the blood loss.” She would then reach for one of the mystical cures Asclepius told her to get and would collect the dead snake, impaling its fang into it’s bottle. She would then apply it to the bite mark, alongside the mixture she asked for earlier – her dress was quite a mess by the time she was done, stained in plenty of blood.

Cecilia would stop convulsing as hard, after Katarina did so – clearly that had a positive effect. However, it was most likely, too little too late – but Katarina was not going to give up.

“She lost a lot of blood on the way here.. no, that’s a wrong way of thinking. She’ll be fine.” Katarina would mutter as she would continue following instructions given to her, surely if anyone could save this woman – it was the god of medicine himself, right?

It would take another hour of fighting, before Katarina started to lose hope. Everyone else gave up earlier, but did not wish to say so and Maria was just too occupied with helping, to really notice.

When no one was looking, Chiyome would mutter to herself. “ _ **Partial Noble Phantasm Release.**_ ” as she made a hand gesture, sealing the woman’s fate. 

* * *

“I’m afraid there is no point, Lady Claes. I can’t feel her pulse anymore.” Lamont spoke up after another half an hour, going silent for a few seconds “I’m afraid even a miracle won’t bring back the dead. Time of death… arond midnight.”

Everyone would go silent, followed by a sound of weeping, that was Maria. Katarina would look at the poor girl, her heart aching to see her in such a state. The idea of any child losing their mother usually would cause grief, but in this case specifically it was gut wrenching. 

It was her fault. She shouldn’t have invited them, she was sure if she didn’t…

“Master. There is… one more solution, which we can approach.” she heard in her head “If you really value the life of this woman, I did acquire enough ingredients recently for a dose of my ultimate medicine. Should I instruct you on it’s preparation?”

“Do it.” there was no hesitation, she knew this was going to get her into more trouble when she could handle on her own – but Katarina was... Not. Giving. Up.

“Very well. Let us begin.” Asclepius said, smiling in his spirit form – everything went down perfectly, just as planned. There was a quiet sense of pride in his master – such will to save someone she knew nothing about.

* * *

It was probably a bad omen for the moon to have such a crimson shade to it, Cecilia thought, trying to focus herself on anything but her pain - not what there was a point to it, of course - it would all be over soon. She felt it in her bones, as the trees around her would begin withering, the road under her feet would start crumbling to dust - she simply ran out of time. 

Would things be different, if she reached the end of this road? She honestly couldn’t help but wonder, as she felt the world around her shatter to pieces and herself falling into the abyss. The pain would melt, alongside with her thoughts - dying was odd.

Suddenly, she fell onto something, hard. Her back would make the most unkind sound as it hit the rocky pavement of what looked like a small shrine. She would not move for a few minutes, before a voice called out to her.

“Would you stand up already? Don’t you want to live? Tch.” she heard a young girl, voice of which she never heard before speak up to her. She was quite clearly irritated with her.

Cecilia would lift her head, before trying to stand up. To her surprise, she felt no pain. She was getting better…? She would look at the source of the mysterious voice, it was just a shadow with a loose form of a girl with long hair. She wore some sort of ritualistic looking robe, but it was difficult to tell - she was a shadow after all.

“All better now, aren’t you. Tch. Humans… go now. It is not your curse, nor it is your time. Let us never meet again, Cecilia Campbell.”

'Who... are..."

* * *

“I refuse to give up.” Katarina repeated once again, this time out loud, as she would dash to the bag Chiyome brought and started sporadically mixing components, as Asclepius would chant the incantation – once the final component went in, he began laughing uncontrollably.

“ _Hahahaa, gaze upon us, god of the underworld! Your role has ended, for the man has conquered Death itself!_ _**Partial Noble Phantasm Release - Emulated Medicine: Grief of the Obsolete Underworld!**_ ”

Katarina felt mana channel through her body as the concoction would glow bright red, the most beautiful color – the magical energy resonated strongly with all of the components, to emulate what she assumed was Gorgon’s right blood, as per legend. Everyone present would look in her direction, the mysterious medicine catching their attention.

“I’m sorry, Lady Lamont, but my peer review has found your statement, _false_.” she would say before walking up to Cecilia and feeding the medicine to her. Nothing happened at first, but it was not long before the veins on the woman began to glow gently. Her whole body would get covered with a mystical glow, before she started coughing violently. She was alive!

Everyone apart from Katarina and Maria took a step backwards, seeing a proclaimed dead rouse to the realm of the living was... not normal. She kept coughing up pitch black, poisonous blood until there was none left. Her breathing would stabilize, her bite mark and the infection within would disappear. Cecilia would finally open her eyes and look around, this wasn’t her bedroom. Nor was it the nightmare she slept through.

Her eyes would drift from face to face, until she saw her own daughter. “Maria…?” 

“Mother!” Maria would weep as she would squeeze her mother in a hug, emotions taking control of her.

“What… was **_that?!_** ” Lady Lamont managed to ask, before falling unconscious herself. She would be caught by Sir Bellingham.

“Everyone is exhausted and tired.” Bellingham would state after a few seconds, holding onto his co-worker gently and looking at Katarina “Let’s just pretend for now we have not seen this and get a new change of clothing and a warmer environment.” 

His tone was stern, his intention was quite clear for everyone who observed the miracle in person - to give everyone time before making a huge deal out of this. It was funny in a way, he had real doubts about Katarina Claes and her talent, which was the main reason he wanted to mingle with her - to catch her off guard and call her bluff. Instead, his whole view of the world was shattered and he didn’t know where to start gathering the pieces.

He only knew one thing - there was most likely never again going to be a person with raw talent to healing arts, as the girl in front of him. She has to be protected from the world which would wish to exploit it. He would have to bring this with his favourite patient, one with the means to protect the girl. Katarina’s own future mother-in-law. The queen.

“Yeah… a new change of clothes would be nice.” Katarina would speak up, finally - it was awkward, now what they were looking at her again, after pulling that one out of nowhere. Her new dress was in shambles, with blood and medicine stains all over…

_This… was probably not something she could get out with a detergent, was it?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, shout outs to jadebenn of "My Death as a Villainess-verse" for the name Celia. It reminede me of the character Cecilia, out of Wild Arms who is pretty much like Maria in every way, as such consider the name I picked for her a homage for both. 
> 
> Second of all, to clear misunderstandings which I can see arising - the visions inside the nightmare, was the effect of light magic preventing Cecilia from giving up. The curse wanted to break her, then to consume the leftovers. Everything outside the path, would be a certain death. But having worked through these issues, she will not grow distant to Maria in this timeline. 
> 
> Third of all, yes - Cecilia did die and she was dead for some amount of minutes. The Emulated Medicine of Asclepius is able to resurrect people, but only under certain conditions, which were filled flawlessly. Also, he would still resurrect her even if Katarina refused for some uknown reason, he would just not do so publically. He had no intention of letting her actually die off for good.
> 
> And finally, I never really written angst or drama before, so sorry for it sounding rather cheesy, in hindsight. Still, I feel its important to have it here.
> 
> But anyway, in the next chapter - we will finally get to actually see Sophia! Wooow!  
> Oh and also, next chapter will involve royal shenanigans.


	9. Chapter 8 - The Quality of Mercy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katarina sorts the leftover issues from the previous chapter, slowly concluding the first major arc of the story. It turns out, not everything is as it would seem from the game, it seems everything to shaken up too much.

The following morning proved to be quite hectic for everyone, to no one's surprise. Thankfully the situation did not get out of control thanks to Bellingham and Lamont, whom the former recruited to the cause the moment she regained consciousness. All told, they would spin the story like Cecilia’s death had been “greatly exaggerated” by other witnesses.

Having finished with the rumor-quelling, the two would immediately head to their destinations – Bellingham to the Royal Palace and Lamont to the Ministry of Magic, they both had their work cut out for them. Katarina herself would not stick around for long, just making sure the Campbell’s would be sent to the Claes mansion ahead of her, to rest. Only with that done, the girl finally would breath out a sigh of relief. 

“Are you alright, Katarina?” Chiyome would ask, looking at Katarina who would be smiling gently into the sky. She would approach, only to be grabbed into a tight hug, ruining her dress in the process as well, something Chiyome would object to, but not for long - she did enjoy having Katarina hug her like that, after all.

“Chiyome… _you are such a dummy._ ” Katarina would say with a soft tone to her voice, before letting the hug go and smiling radiantly “I suppose it is expected of my sister.”

“I… I’m glad?” Chiyome would tilt her head, her hands reaching for a handkerchief or something in hopes of salvaging the dress from all the stains she just received. 

“Oh, sorry about that. Well, I suppose I should head after them - mother will not be happy, I think.” Katarina giggled apologetically at having stained her sister's dress and would head towards her carriage, leaving Chiyome just slightly confused, yet feeling surprisingly elated. 

Having arrived at Claes mansion, Katarina would change to a new set of clothes before heading directly to Miri, who to her surprise did not take the news nearly as bad as she anticipated. At least, until Katarina mentioned that out loud in surprise, that did the trick of pissing Miri off rather easily.

“Do you really expect me to be mad at you for saving a lone mother’s life?” Miri asked, yes – she knew her daughter was going to get into heaps of troubles for this and yes, the price of the concoction almost made her choke up a bit, but at the same time… she was incredibly proud of her daughter. It was a hard thing to explain.

The problems coming their way could be solved in any number of ways, especially since apparently Asclepius wasn’t joking about being able to resurrect the dead, a very important little factoid to clear up and the financial side of things… Katarina was wealthy, ridiculously so for her age.

Katarina would look at her mother and would walk up to her, hugging her just as tightly as she did Chiyome earlier. They would spend a few silent minutes in each other's arms. 

“So I assume you will spend tomorrow at home, Katarina?” Miri would ask, the convention grew into a three day event, but Katarina wasn’t required to attend it every single day. Seeing Katarina nod, Miri would nod herself “Okay, that’s smart enough… and what about that publication? Will you start working on it right away?”

Miri of course, while happy with Katarina – felt she could allow herself to peeve her off just a little bit, after all – she did ruin that very nice dress they spent so much time on.

Katarina’s eye would twitch visibly.

* * *

Both Maria and Cecilia would sleep in until the evening of the next day, they needed quite a bit of time to get their strength back. Cecilia was the first one to wake up as she would look around the rather luxurious room she was currently in. The only other presence apart from her daughter was a tiny cute household pet, unlike any she had ever seen before. The little jacket had “Fou” engraved into it, so she figured that was the name.

Having realised Cecilia woke up, Fou would jump onto the handle of the door, opening it - surprising the woman quite heavily in the process - before heading off somewhere, coming back in a few minutes with a girl. The girl, which saved her life - if Cecilia wasn’t mistaken. 

“You’re awake.” Katarina would speak up approaching her “Are you comfortable? Is it hurting anywhere, Miss Campbell?”

“I… no, I’m fine, Mi… Lady…?” She wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but she quickly caught up to the fact she must at least be of noble background.

“You can call me Lady Katarina, or just Katarina if you want to, Miss Campbell.” she smiled “But my full name is Katarina Claes, I was the one who invited you to the convention in the first place, however I was hoping your arrival would be a lot less... dangerous . Could you please tell me, what happened exactly?”

“R-right. Please call me Cecilia, then. So, the way I remember the events…” Cecilia would begin her story, trying to describe everything in detail, but her memory didn’t hold up as well as she hoped, the nerves weren’t helping either - she knew the name Katarina Claes, even if she couldn’t connect a face to the name before. 

Somewhere in the middle of the story, Maria would wake up and another round of introductions would occur. Katarina then asked both of them to continue the story, filling in the blanks for each other.

By the end of it, Katarina had a pretty solid understanding of how events unfolded.

“Well, I am glad to hear you didn’t get hurt on the way here, I was afraid the whole incident would have been my fault, but if you were bitten at your house…” Katarina would muse, unsure if she should tell the two of them the truth. It would be an enormous mistake to do so...

“Thank you for saving my mother, Lady Katarina.” Maria would speak up, suddenly, breaking into tears finally having the courage to say what was on her mind “I will forever be in your debt!”

“A-a.. please cut that out!” Katarina would feel rather uncomfortable all of the sudden, enough so to reach a decision. “In fact, I… there is something I’m afraid I have to tell you.”

Katarina smiled awkwardly, this was going to be… unpleasant, but her conscious demanded it. 

The two would look between each other and then at her “Go… on, Lady Katarina?”

“Well, it all started with me seeing Fou here, on a fateful night…”

* * *

Katarina would tell them everything, going into details about Chiyome, Asclepius - as well as her suspicions to what actually have occurred, behind her back. She spared them the details of her reincarnation, but apart from that she would be honest.

“As such, now that I had some time to think about it, a poison like that with such a specific timing is… unlikely. I believe it was my servants who were at the root of your troubles, for which – I am sorry.” she would stand up and would bow deeply in apology to each one of them “I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me, I truly did not anticipate something like this.”

The two Campbells were at a loss of words, everything she said added up enough for them to believe it, but why would she be telling them that? Or for that matter, apologising - when she could have just kept quiet about it.

“I.. would struggle to say I feel at ease having heard that, Lady Katarina.” Cecilia finally said, the thought of serving as a toy in someone’s machinations was not pleasant.

“I understand.” Katarina would bow slightly again, then added “I will more then generously compensate you and will order them to leave you alone, I will make sure they will not ever hurt you in any way.”

“It’s... not your fault…” Maria would speak up, suddenly “If what you are saying is true, Lady Katarina – then it is their fault! Not yours! You saved mother, did you not? You told us the truth, did you not?!”

Maria didn’t exactly know what took over her so much, but she was absolutely sure Katarina Claes was not a villain in this story. Yes, perhaps some blame could be allocated to her, but not enough to condemn her in Maria’s eyes. The fact she was willing to set things straight instead of running away from the issues - it was something admirable.

“What… are you planning to do, about them, Lady Katarina?” Cecilia would speak softly, looking at Maria, having a solid idea what her daughter was thinking at the moment “If we were to not hold it against you or them.”

“I…” Katarina would look at Cecilia and smile apologetically “To be honest, apart from indirectly asking them to make sure you were okay, I wasn’t planning on confronting them about this head on. What they did is, obviously not right and it doesn’t sit well with me, but it was probably the right decision at the time. I want them to remain confident in their abilities and judgement.”

Katarina would sit back down, before continuing. 

“And as much as others might get hurt in the future, I trust them to have my family’s best intentions at heart and confronting them about it, might hurt their ability to act when they should. If it was indeed their plan, make no mistakes - you were not in any real danger at any point, however… you suffered great pain, because of it.”

She smiled, radiantly – the smile no living being with a soul could resist.

“And if it wasn’t their machinations, they would obviously be hurt greatly by the accusation. Chiyome is like a sister to me, in fact – she is my sister. And good doctor, while rough around the edges is still a great friend. As such, I am apologizing on both my and their behalf.”

Cecilia and Maria would look at Katarina for some time in silence, before finally, Cecilia spoke up.

“In that case, let bygones be bygones. I am alive and much… wiser myself, now.” Cecilia would look at Maria, smiling softly, it was a learning experience one way or another “However, I would ask of you a personal request as reparations, if that is not too audacious of me, Lady Katarina.”

‘Go on, please.” Katarina would nod, looking at Cecilia - she would attempt to grant anything she could within reason.

“Seeing as you are kind enough to tell us the truth, the one request I would have of you is to become our patron and provide for us, in exchange for suitable work.” It was Cecilia’s turn to give a soft, charming smile – it was a simple conclusion to reach, really.

She was confident Katarina was telling them the truth and she was fairly confident she was a kind girl, so it would be for the best to take advantage of her generosity and guilt to get a headstart to a better life. Yes, perhaps that wasn’t the nicest thing to do - but she was just poisoned, supposedly. 

“I-I can help around household chores!” Maria spoke up, adding to that promptly. 

“Y-you… you want to work for me?!” Katarina Claes was NOT expecting that turn of events.

* * *

In the end, with some consideration Katarina would hire the two of them for more than generous pay, on a small condition they would try not to hold negative feelings against Asclepius and Chiyome, if possible. Cecilia would begin studying to fill the role of a maid, under direct command of Anne and Maria would work as Katarina’s assistant, ** _the fool._**

She was… sorry for the girl, as she was planning to dump a lion’s share of her paperwork onto her the moment Asclepius trained her to be sufficiently proficient at understanding his nonsense, this was like killing three birds with one stone! Less paperwork, stuff still gets done and they would be even! Amazing result!

“Okay, well – Anne can show you to the dining area and get you settled in, I need to head out for the night, as I still have a convention to close tomorrow. Thank you for… thank you for understanding, Maria, Cecilia. I look forward to getting to know you.” Katarina would say from the bottom of her heart, before clocking it out for the day.

When the next day arrived, Katarina would head to the convention to give the closing speech and mingle some more with the guests before they all went home, it was an experience for everyone and it seemed to have made the right impression. At the very least she could say what everyone was happy, herself included. It was over!

The only social disaster she had to worry about now was the twin princess tea party, which was just a few short days away – she was looking forward to it, however. It would be a nice change of pace.

* * *

The tea party was not quite the change of pace Katarina had hoped it would be. Sure, she was always glad to spend time with her friends, especially since she was so busy as of late – the sweets were rather nice too, but as always she would have one too many and on the way to “powder her nose” she was intercepted by ah, none other than the Queen of Sorcier. 

Obviously, she couldn’t just say “no, leave me alone” when the Queen herself asked for a moment of her time, even if it was rather suspicious of her to do so. Katarina smiled charmingly as she would follow Her Majesty further into the castle grounds, through the little hedge maze towards a gazebo - it was at that point Katarina would mentally call Chiyome to join them, just in case something would go awry. 

Having reached the gazebo, Her Majesty would sit down and offer Katarina a seat, which she would take.

“So, Katarina… it is nice to finally meet the fiance of my little Geordo, he always puts in a good word for you, my dear” The Queen would begin gently with a little bit of flattery. “So does Alan, naturally. You seem to have made good impressions on both.”

“Ah, thank you, your Majesty.” Katarina would try to mingle, just like Chiyome and her Mother taught her. She just had to be calm, collected and not talk about anything she wasn’t supposed to talk about.

“You know, I... heard certain types of rumors as of late, you are… quite a special girl.” Her Majesty made a heavy emphasis on the word “special.”

“I’m… glad you think so, Your Majesty.” Katarina was pretty sure she had a good idea where this discussion would go now, did she force Geordo and Alan to tell her everything? They couldn’t really afford to disobey a direct order.

“You know, you like sweets, right – Katarina?” Her Majesty would ask, creeping Katarina out a little bit - just how much did she know about her? “Do you know who invented all of those sweets?” 

“I’m afraid I do not, Your Majesty.” Katarina would sense Chiyome’s presence close to her, she seemed to have made it here in time… good. But wait, did a singular person invent several sweets?

“A little prodigy from the neighboring kingdom of Nova, she invented many things - a respectable collection of sweets is just one among her many accomplishments, however even they are dwarfed by a few others. Printing press would be the invention she is known the best for.”

Katarina would blink, someone who could invent a printing press… and so many sweets - surely she wasn’t also reincarnated?

‘I see… was there anything else she ugh, invented?”

“No, sadly… Her life was cut short at a young age by a robber in the middle of the night, or so goes the official statement. She was showing some real promise, it’s a shame - really. Especially seeing as… she wasn’t actually of Nova. Nova was just the country she chose to live in, her real place of birth has been and always will be Sorcier.”

“From... Sorcier?” Katarina would think about it briefly, if this was a case of reincarnation, it would again be inside Sorcier… would there be any others?

“Yes, back when Sorcier was in the so-called “Golden Ages”, back when there was no one who could rival us to any real extent. It has been quite a long time ago, really - the balance of power shifted heavily, at first to favour Nova and then the other kingdoms, instead of ours.”

“Where are you going with this, Your Majesty.” Katarina would say, not really asking it as a question, she knew perfectly well where this was going.

“You are very special Katarina. I’m not quite sure how, or why – but from what I gathered from my sources, you possess a gift.” the Queen would take a more serious intonation.

“I’m not sure I’m following, Your Majesty.” Katarina would try to play it off, putting her left hand over her right.

“I’m sure you do.” The queen did seem to take note as she had done it, she knew.

“I’m afraid I do not.” Katarina would tense up, the Queen was not enjoying her attempt at derailing the conversion. 

“Stop. Playing. Coy.” Her Majesty would reach to grab Katarina’s right hand, having enough of that nonsense... however she didn’t manage to catch up to the girl as something grabbed her tightly by the neck stopping her in the tracks, as Katarina moved away. Was that what Geordo mentioned…?

“You dare…” Her majesty would manage to squeeze out eventually, as Chiyome would drop presence concealment, appearing right in front of her highness, forcing her to drop that sentence.

“I dare. Who are YOU to dare raise a hand towards Katarina.” Chiyome would say in a furious tone, her anger was palpable. Yes, this was what Geordo was implying.

“You think you can just do what you want? I can call the entire castle’s guard down here.” It was really hard to talk while being choked, but Her Majesty managed.

“You would call them to their deaths.” Chiyome stated a fact “Besides, you already placed plenty of guards in the maze - shame I got to all of them first. Don’t worry, they’ll live. Probably.”

The queen’s eyes would narrow, ever so slightly. Figures.

“Now, unless you want to experience an unfortunate accident, your Majesty – please apologize.” Chiyome would tighten her hand and then let Her Majesty go.

The queen would look at the both of them, looking like she ate a sour lemon and then sighed, rubbing her neck. She supposed she deserved that.

“My apologies for the outburst, Katarina. It might sound hard to believe but I meant well in wanting to talk to you. Allow me to start from the beginning.”

Her Majesty would explain everything she heard and from whom, including the twin princes. She would justify herself by stating she just wanted to make sure Katarina would be safe, as losing yet another prodigy could spell dire consequences to Sorcier, a country she so loved with all her heart.

“I usually tend not to do things personally, as you have seen my temper is on a… rather short side of things and when I lash out, it's usually for the worst.” Her Majesty explained further “But surely you must understand why this is so important. Our neighbours have gotten stronger over the years. Even if we are still strong enough to prevent a war from breaking out, you must realise…”

“Another prodigy would most likely spark an armed conflict eventually… is that what you are suspect of?” Chiyome would ask, looking at Katarina “I suppose it makes sense. Every nation wants to become a hegemony and there is a clear path to achieve that goal.”

“Indeed.” Her Majesty would confirm “As such I wanted to make several demands of you, Katarina - but I assume, these will not be taken too well. I suppose Geordo was right in the fact it would be pointless.”

“I will listen to what you have to say, but I will not guarantee my obedience on the matter.” Katarina said, gently. Of course, she could have been executed for treason for just saying that, but right now her head was concerned about other things - let’s forget about the academy doom flags, there was a real possibility of war, because of her?

That… was terrifying. War was hell, after all. Her family, her friends - all could suffer because of her. That was way over her head and she would need some time to think on the matter.

“In that case, I only have one decree to give you Katarina, one which carries the Royal order of both me and my husband. I hereby order you, to use your gift to its full extent, summoning as many of these mystical warriors you command as you can. If things do get worse, I just hope you will be Sorcier’s sword and shield against the incoming darkness.”

Katarina would go silent for a moment, just taking it all in. She would then nod.

“Understood. I will protect those dear to me and more.” Katarina would state, looking right in the eyes of Her Majesty. She would not let darkness come to pass.

Looking into Katarina’s determined eyes, Her Majesty would give a wry smile.

“I get it now, what Geordo sees in you as a future wife, dear.” she was skeptical at some point about her son’s fiance, but not anymore.

“Huh? Geordo is a friend, but he’s just using me as a convenient excuse not to have to bother with other girls.” Katarina said, not giving it much of a second thought.

“I also get the infuriatingly dense part of the description.” Her Majesty did note the exasperated look Chiyome had upon hearing Katarina. “Well, I suppose you should get going. Sorry for taking up so much of your time.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you, your Majesty!” Katarina would only really hear the part where she could go, she would immediately run off to finally powder her nose, leaving them all behind.

* * *

Having FINALLY relieved herself, Katarina was able to just take a relaxed stroll through the castle’s grounds back towards the tea party. She was still hungry for sweets and friendly interaction, however she was deep in thought about the things she heard. War… could there really be war? 

People would die, if war was to break out. Maybe even people precious to her. For the first time since her reincarnation, Katarina didn’t even think about her own doom flags - she just thought about a way to protect everyone she held precious to herself. What would be the point in surviving, if everyone close to her would die? At least if she was exiled, they would all still be happy without her evil looking face around.

So heavy were her thoughts, Katarina didn’t even realize as she got lost on her way back from the lavatory – with a sigh she would climb the highest tree she could see, to get her bearings. Looking around she would spot the correct way to return to the tea party, as well as a girl being bullied. Well then, that just won’t do at all.

Katarina would frown, she didn’t want anyone to see her tree climbing, but she detested being an accomplice to bullying. As such, she would carefully hop from one tree to another until she reached an area above the girls and would dramatically drop off, scaring pretty much everyone senseless. Villainess grand entrance, works like a charm!

The girl in question, being Sophia Ascart – would just look at her mysterious savior, who would swoop in and scare away the bullies. She looked like a heroine straight from the cover of a good story, elegant, confident, dextrous and most of all sporting a radiant smile which could charm anyone. Sophia would just stare, as her saviour would introduce herself and ask her a couple of questions about what was going on, she replied almost automatically, her head just wondering.

“How dumb are they, either that or they’re jealous of how beautiful you are. You are hands down, the prettiest girl I know right after my sister.” Katarina would blab without thinking, she supposed Mary was also a close contender “Uh.. p-please don’t take it in a wrong way, let’s head back to the party instead, teehee.”

Sophia, apart from blushing like she never done before in her life, just realised the girl in front of her had just stolen her heart, just like that. So that’s what it felt like to be in a fairy tale. She would follow Katarina to the tea party, trying to wrap her head around Katarina and what she heard about her from her parents.

A girl about her age, with a noticeable scar on her forehead. Check. A charming, disarming smile which radiates warmth. Check, definitely check. Supposedly one of the most successful entrepreneurs in all of Sorcier, alongside her sister. Tentative check? And according to the recent rumours and the convention she organized, a brilliant healer.

“What kind of list of accomplishments was that?! This was just some lousy writing from whoever came out with that nonsense, she’s too cool!” Sophia didn’t even realise they already reached their destination as she was having those thoughts. 

Having arrived, Katarina would find Nicol and entrusted Sophia back into his gentle hands, bringing up the fact something should be done about the bullying. Geordo and Alan would join, alongside Keith and Chiyome. Mary would not make them wait too long, either. Sophia felt a little bit overwhelmed, from having to meet so many people at the same time, were all of those Katarina’s friends?

A minute passed, then another one - then an hour or two, as they just mingled and would have fun, Sophia knew Geordo, him being the best friend of her brother, but everyone else was really nice too. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling, to have a company to belong to.

“Still, I would like to thank you once again for helping my sister.” Nicol was usually a boy of very few words, but he did wish to express his gratitude again, once the party would start to die down “Especially without knowing who she was.”

Katarina had to admit, she did not expect those two to be of Ascart lineage, she had to meet with their parents on business before and while they looked similar, she just didn’t make the connection.

“Ah, it’s alright. Just keep good care of her, you are so lucky after all – having a wonderful family like you do. Almost as lucky as me.” Katarina smiled radiantly at Nicol, as literally everyone apart from his sister would give him an irate look. Oh great, she charmed another one.

Nicol would say nothing, having been moved to the very core of his soul. Also what was with those looks? Jealousy, really? He knew very well Katarina was engaged to Geordo, did they expect him to steal her away somewhere? Still...

_ It was a wonderful day. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> === New Characters of Interest ===  
> Her Majesty - Short tempered, but means well. Name is currently undecided, but she will be the King's liaison to Katarina so he could claim plausable deniability in diplomatic affairs.
> 
> Bellingham - A proficent healer with deep knowledge of poisons, employed at infirmary of Ministry alongside Lamont. Serves as personsal physicial to the queen, has a pleasent aura to himself, but can be quite viscious if need be.
> 
> Lamont - A would be light mage with broken magical flow, she is still accounted as "employed by Ministry of magic" even if she can't utilize magic at all. Has vester interest to Katarina for obvious reasons.
> 
> === Misc. ===  
> And this should in theory wrap up most of loose ends for Arc 1: Saint of Sorcier. The next Arc - Arc 2, will carry a different name.  
> "O Mona, O Bella."


	10. Interludes and Examinations (Vol. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First edition of "slice of life" moments between the characters relevant to the story. This collection of short scenes serves an important role to the story, however almost all of the scenes can be skipped without loosing too much of overall story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An important notice: Yes, I am aware that canonically Katarina's birthday is June 30'th, however I switched her birthday to 13th of December, a much prettier time of the year. There isn't any particular reason for me to have done so, but I'm sure at least someone won't like it, for which - I am sorry, but it is what it is.

_**~ Geordo and Alan ~** _

* * *

Days after the royal tea party has been held, the twin brothers would find themselves sharing a study together, they had a shared reason to be there, as they would be looking into the country of Nova, trying to gleam a little bit about the story which Katarina mentioned to them after her encounter with the Queen. They would sit by the fireplace, enjoying the good atmosphere.

“Alan…?” Geordo would speak up, going through a lot of old transaction reports, they were hand written and as such a little bit difficult to understand. Didn’t help that the book was rather huge, considering his size it was a little bit of a struggle to keep steady in a comfortable way. “Have Mother healed up fully?”

“Yes, I fetched some remedies from Katarina last time I visited, they helped a bunch. Still... can’t believe Chiyome choked her.” Alan would reply, making a bookmark in this volume and moving onto the next.

“I’m just glad it ended at that.” Geordo would sigh, focusing on a particular transaction for a wagon of sugar “Would she listen to what I had to say, she wouldn’t have a sore throat for days.”

“Would save her the embarrassment, at least. I think she didn’t believe anyone at the party would have the audacity to attack her.” Alan would go into thought “It just so happens our group has two idiots who would do that if need be.”

The two would look at each other, before going back to their studies.

“Chiyome and Mary.” Geordo spoke up, Alan would turn the page and reply approximately at the same time “Chiyome and Keith.”

The two would blink, turning to each other again.

“Now wait a second, what does Mary have to do with this?” Alan would ask, not letting his brother shamelessly bully his fiance like that “She’s no less angel then Katarina!”

“An angel? Her? Have you been paying attention to her at all, it’s like she’s always scheming how to put us in a ditch somewhere!” Geordo would stare at his brother, barely holding back laughter “And Keith? Well, I suppose that’s fair but that would make three audacious idiots among us.”

“Well, I admit sometimes Mary can have a scary look on her face, but it doesn’t mean she would do something THAT aggressive. She’s just a delicate flower who happens to have some thorns.” Alan would insist.

“Well, if you think so, brother.” Geordo would muse a little bit before adding “Still, should we at least raise a complaint in Mother’s name?”

“Should we? Mother is the Queen after all, surely she can protect her own image herself.” Alan would say after thinking a bit “Besides, you know it won’t actually fix anything and if Chi will feel particularly nasty we will be looking for our unmentionables around the castle for days like last time.”

“A fair point. We should get less crazy friends into the group, at some point.” Geordo would cede the point “Wait, that was Chi? I honestly thought it was one of the servants.”

“The new girl seems normal enough… which is kind of scary.” Alan would bring up with a hint of hope to his voice “And yes, it was most definitely Chi. Who else would manage to do it so over the top?”

“Should we gift her a box of snakes for her birthday?”

“I’m not suicidal and you aren’t handling snakes, now shut up and work.”

_**~ Anne & Cecilia ~** _

* * *

Generally speaking, a normal person would find her occupation as Katarina’s personal maid an impossible task – keeping up with Katarina alone was a handful, when one would throw in heroic spirits into the mix… let’s just say it took a special set of talents and a lot of patience to fulfill this duty. Still, even if this was her job, one she would always do gladly and with pride – Anne was quite happy when Katarina found her a helping hand in the form of Cecilia Campbell.

She would begin the training immediately, starting from the common tasks they would be expected to do – cleaning, dusting, cooking, hauling documents around the place for hours on end, as well as making sure Katarina did actually get some sleep every night… and of course, moral support for some other activities.

“Anne, I still don’t quite understand – how do you manage to predict what she will be doing at any given time?” Cecilia asked, as she had the pleasure of observing Katarina tend to her garden for the first time since being employed at the Claes mansion.

“It’s simple, actually. Practice. Lots and lots of practice.” Anne would reply, with a modest smile “Also she hasn’t been able to do this for a while now, so it was due to happen eventually. She loves gardening almost as much as she likes to complain about her work.”

“She really does work hard, doesn’t she.” Cecilia would look as Katarina would do her heave-ho routine around her garden, swinging her hoe with youthful vigor.

“Yes, that she does.” Anne would look at Cecilia and smile “You seem a lot more comfortable in this role now too, Cecilia. You’re a hard worker as well.”

“W-why, thank you… Anne.” Cecilia would feel a blush creep up, as she would change the topic “So, do you still need my help with that ointment’s application?”

Wait, no – that was the wrong topic to switch to!

“Yes, if you would be so kind. It is painful to stretch my hand that far otherwise.” Anne would smile, she didn’t particularly enjoy applying it by herself because of that and asking someone prior to this felt… uncomfortable.

“Right, well…” Cecilia would look at Anne “Glad to help.”

_**~ Mary & Keith ~** _

* * *

“And this should be the last of you, excellent.” Mary would nod in satisfaction, as she would finish planting the last of the saplings into the ground on this particular plantation, it was now all good to go.

“Alright, let us etch the runes then.” Keith would walk up to Mary and they would get to work on safeguarding the saplings for the winter, as well as making sure they would get all of the nutrients from the soil.

Having finished that, the two would sit down and have some snacks, just spending time as friends would – chatting about little things, making plans on leaving Geordo in the dust – the usual best friends talk.

“So it should be done with this, right?” Keith would ask, keeping his words vague on purpose – Mary would understand what he meant, if it was the case.

‘Yes, I believe it is, unless I messed something up.” Mary would smile, it was a work well done on her part, or at least that’s what she would like to believe. She did wish she would be able to do it completely on her own – but having to ask Keith to help out wasn’t the worst thing in the world, in fact she rather enjoyed his company.

“And you reckon it will work?” Keith would take another look at the newly planted rows of saplings.

“I really can’t tell, Keith. I hope it does, it would be great if it did.” Mary would stretch a little bit “It’s just you know… a wild guess, after all.”

It really would be hard to tell what exactly was going on between the two, without looking a little into the plantations the Hunt family opened as a part of an ongoing agreement with the Claes family. On paper, it was just a lucrative business opportunity – but looking a little bit in depth, one would realize the plantations were set up a little funny, forming a certain pattern.

Now, of course there was nothing wrong with that – however if one was to take a view from the sky, every plantation has been meticulously planned out in a way to replicate some sort of rune, the rune any of Katarina’s friends would recognize as the heroic spirit summoning circle.

The idea was simple – flowers had a pretty small inert amount of magical energy to them, as such Mary theorized the existence of a larger scale summoning circle etched with flowers and trees across a large space would be able to help Katarina with future summoning. A sort of man made leyline, if one wanted to go into details – something a particular Magi of Flowers would find most fitting.

“And are you going to… try yourself?” Keith would ask, after a while – he was concerned for Mary after all and who knew what could happen if it wasn’t Katarina chanting the summoning lines.

“No, not until I get a solid word out from our good doctor.” Mary would shake her head “Too dangerous. Katarina is special you know, I’m sure I will try at some point, but I rather prefer being safe about unknown magic. Wouldn’t want to make Geordo’s life any easier now, would I?”

“I see… that’s good. I wanted to uh, mention – Chiyome brought up something..” Keith mentioned in passing, before explaining properly “It’s Katarina’s tenth birthday soon. I believe Chiyome promised Katarina she would start training her once she would reach ten years of age, so I wanted to ask if you would like to tag along.”

“What kind of question is that, of course I want in. So she means practice like… going all out? Wouldn’t that be really dangerous?” Mary would raise an eyebrow, thinking about it “Then again, I suppose it makes sense when you have a doctor on hand.”

“Yeah, supposedly Asclepius figured something out to make it safe enough to consider, so it’s gonna be the three of us against Chiyome.”

“Sounds like bad odds for us.”

“You don’t have to tag along if you’re afra..aa!” Keith didn’t finish the sentence as Mary would push him off the bench, laughing.

_**~ Sophia and Nicol ~** _

* * *

“Nicol, do you think it would be weird if I asked Katarina for a dance?” Sophia asked her brother, as they have been practicing dancing in preparation for winter festivities, including a very special occasion to celebrate.

Nicol would give her a prolonged look, as he was guiding her.

“Weird? I don’t believe Katarina would find that weird.” Nicol wouldn’t really go further into details on that, it would of course look weird for other observers, but having become friends with Katarina he could comfortably say she wouldn’t mind being asked by Sophia at all. In fact, she would probably enjoy it. “You would need to learn the men’s part, however.”

“Would you teach me, Nicol?” she would hold her breath, it was a big favor to ask, even for her brother. After all, it meant he would have to dance with her until she got it right – which implied him dancing the woman’s part at least occasionally.

“Of course. You need not ask.” His lips would ever so slightly move upwards.

“Would you be willing to try on a dress for that, then?” Sophia would blush and giggle childishly, her brother did look really well in all sorts of clothes.

“If… you think that is required.” He would make sure to make a mental note to give her lessons whenever no one else was around, otherwise things could get mildly awkward.

Sophia on her end just smiled, how lucky she was.

_**~ Luigi and Miri ~** _

* * *

“Are you sure this would be a good idea, honey?” Luigi would ask, looking over his wife in all of her glory. The two of them were heading to a little special getaway Luigi prepared for the occasion, but he did not quite anticipate Miri bringing out quite a delicate dress as she did. He was in fact sure it was her favorite finery, maybe it was best saved for truly grandeur occasions.

“Of course. We don’t get to spend that much time together one on one nowadays, not like we used to be able to… and after all it is a very special occasion. So, shall we?”

“Hm, but of course.” he smiled at her, as he took her hand and they would make their way to the carriage, heading out to one of the finest ballrooms in the capital – he has rented the whole building just for the occasion. The evening was destined to be perfect.

It would not take too long to arrive, Luigi would take Miri’s hand and escort her inside – the building was lit flawlessly, creating a romantic atmosphere – just for the two of them. He would then take her for a dance. An hour would pass, maybe two - they would just enjoy each other silently for a good while.

“Mmm, I am so glad you managed to get a break from work for our anniversary.” Miri would muse, she was over the moon – she was for a long time now, really – all the way since Katarina mended the rift between the two of them.

“Yes, it was truly fortunate.” Luigi chuckled, only slightly lying. He actually had some of the highest workflow around this time a year and the only reason he had the evening to spare, was because he asked Katarina to cover for him today. If looks could kill, the death glare he got from Katarina would probably do him in on the spot, but she thankfully would agree without much convincing as it was for a special occasion.

He only had to bring up that vase she smashed by accident, the one Miri was aware she smashed to smithereens, but everyone used as a convenient bargaining chip with Katarina anyway.

“Mmm, let us carry on dancing, then.” Miri smiled “The night is still young after all.”

They would spend an enchanted evening together.

_**~ Lamont & Bellingham ~** _

* * *

“I really don’t think it would be a good idea to ask her, after all… we barely know each other. Besides, don’t you think that would be like, a really big thing to ask?” Lamont would cross her hands as she spoke up. She has spent the last few hours arguing with Bellingham over whenever she should ask Katarina about a potential cure for her flawed mana flow.

It was no secret that Lamont was supposed to possess magic, in fact – it was supposed to be the rather rare light magic, that is – if she had any spare mana to her name. It was like a big practical joke, she had something so highly prized but had no actual way of utilizing it, apart from being able to make her nails glow in the dark. That was the extent of her power. 

“Well, it is a pretty big thing to ask, but you saw what I saw, don’t tell me you haven’t at least considered it!” it was somewhat infuriating to argue with his colleague on this matter, he was absolutely sure there had to be something that would be able to help her meager magical reserves.

“Of course I did! I just don’t want to be one on the long list of people indebted to her for life, I have a feeling that wouldn’t end well.” she of course considered going to her, many times – but it was kind of scary in a way. Prodigies were scary in general, Katarina, Geordo, Nicol – all really young people she had to meet at one point or another and all three crept her out.

“Would it really hurt to just ask? You don’t have to accept anything past the initial inquiry, you know that, right? Besides, she healed the Campbell woman for free, did she not?”

“Well, you say that – but there were some nasty rumors going about that, especially after they moved into Claes mansion” Lamon would note, uncrossing her hands.

“Oh please, spare me! Are you really going to believe those rumors? Don’t you think Katarina is a little bit too young and refined to look at someone' mother in THAT light? Such a ridiculous rumor.”

“You have to admit tho, she does surround herself with many beautiful people and they all… ow! What was that for?” Lamont would rub her forehead, which was gently bonked with a newspaper.

“She’s turning ten this winter, she does not have a harem!”

_**~ Katarina & Maria ~** _

* * *

“I’m done with that batch, Katarina.” Maria would mention, as she was finished going over the little stack of papers she was handed over, after several headache inducing hours. Her wrist was in agony, what kind of torture was that? She would look at Katarina, who was hard at work – so much so she didn’t even notice she said something. 

Katarina herself was going at a speed which Maria would be hard pressed to match – in fact, while Maria just managed to handle a stack of twenty or so documents Katarina went over… judging by the size, two to three hundred pieces of documentation and currently was just working on the manuscript of some kind.

“Honestly, can’t we just hire more people to help with this?” Maria would think to herself, she was a patient and hard working girl, sure – but there was working and then there was “I will most likely die from overwork” working, something her newfound friend indulged in every single day.

It was however really soothing to see her work, the fast, confident motions of the pen combined with a soft yet serious expression, it was just something pleasant to look at. And she was totally not falling in love with her boss, as Keith said she would. Yeah, totally not. Just very affectionately observing her, nothing to see here.

Maria would let out a sigh, as much as she loathed to admit – she shouldn’t even be treading on this territory. Her competition if she chose to pursue this, would be a mysterious paranormal assassin, who killed her mother once and a seemingly perfect prince without any visible flaws. Both were annoyingly nice, once she got to know them – she did have some troubles dealing with Chiyome still, of course – but she never let her realize that she knew about the aforementioned mother murdering. She couldn’t, didn’t want to, even.

Still, there was something she should be able to do to get ahead of the competition, even if she wasn’t as smart as Geordo, skillful as Alan, cunning as Mary, reliable as Keith, stoic as Nicol, scheming as Sophia or just straight up super strong as Chiyome.

The current option was to learn the art of sweets, something no one else so far has picked up to her surprise, despite Katarina’s absolute insatiable appetite for sugary delights – the only problem was just getting the spare time for cooking practice, it was not easy at all.

Still, it was well worth it to spend all of the time in the office, the view was enchanting, after all.

_**~ Chiyome & Her Majesty ~** _

* * *

“Well, can’t say I was expecting to find much, but I suppose there is always a little room to get surprised.” Chiyome would speak up, leaving presence concealment and dropping a stack of correspondence on the table of Her Majesty, as she would twitch slightly. She was never going to get used to her just appearing in front of her like that, thankfully it wasn’t very often she did - but still.

“So there was someone among the Palace staff who peeked at your interest?” Her Majesty would carefully pick up the first bit of correspondence and look it over, then the next one by one - everything was in code “It does however, look suspicious. Who is the lucky winner?”

“One of the Second Prince’s butlers, I didn’t catch the name. Taller man, with receding hairline - that one.” Chiyome answered, she honestly couldn’t be bothered remembering all of their names “The code itself is trivial, just read the first letter of a word, then second in sequence.” 

“Ah, many thanks” Her Majesty would read through the correspondence, the man was hired to get into the royal family with the intent of poisoning Ian at a later point in time, with the intent of causing the rift between the factions of her older two sons.”

“Well, how unfortunate for him.” The Queen said with a dry tone “I assume he didn’t know who hired him?” 

“No, he was just a rather charismatic charlatan not anyone important enough to know the chain of command.” Chiyome would sigh, then with a bit of sarcasm adding “Still, I had more faith in your security, Your Maaajesty.”

“Well, excuse me Miss Claes, not everyone is a supernatural killing machine. I assume he’s dead somewhere in a ditch, by the way?” having received a nod, she would nod with satisfaction “Good. I’ll grill everyone responsible over coals about this later, but the important takeaway here is - I wasn’t just being paranoid.”

“It’s not paranoia if they are really out to get you, your Majesty.” Chiyome would shrug, then stretch a little bit “If you want my advice, I would carry some antidote with me at all times, seeing how we have a precedent for infiltration.”

“That milky white thing, right? Just how efficient is it at neutralising poisons?” Her Majesty would recall Chiyome bringing her several vials at some point, mentioning it was an antidote.

“Efficient enough to save you, I would harbour a guess. Asclepius was the one who made it, not me, Your Majesty.” Chiyome would then tap her heel on the floor a bit “So, now is your end of the bargain.”

“Yes, yes - I’ll have everything prepared to specifications… this Winter Gala of yours sounds fascinating, it might even turn into a yearly thing if people will like it. I just wanted to ask, is there a reason it would just so happen to coincide with Katarina’s birthday? Aren’t sisters supposed to be a little bit more platonic towards each other?”

Chiyome would look at her, unamused. 

“Um… please don’t choke me?” The Queen would say sheepishly, not expecting that kind of look.

Chiyome was really tempted. She really was.

But just this _once_ she would let it slide. 


	11. Chapter 9 - Shadow Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things finally start to figure themselves out in Katarina's life, as Chiyome slowly setup her coup de grace for everyone else's lead for Katarina's heart.

_ “And I believe this is the last page of the first tome all in order.” _

Out of many words ever spoken to Katarina Claes, these particular ones were like music to her ears, nay – it was music. They meant one thing – she was finally able to enjoy life a little without sitting at the chair - ruining her posture for hours on end. She would breath out, the immense satisfaction hitting her.

“I still can’t believe you convinced me to write all of this by hand… and that I was stupid enough to agree...” Katarina would look at Asclepius who just finished checking the last few pages for mistakes before handing them over for her to sign “… still, you should be the one signing this.”

“It would be weird if a manuscript with your handwriting had my signature on it, Master.” Asclepius would just smirk, as he would sit down on the table – ignoring the look Katarina gave him for having done so “Besides, as mentioned before I would like to use this opportunity to just study this world's magic and diseases without having to deal with hundreds of dull cases.”

“So instead you are planning to drop all of them on me?” Katarina would tilt her head, slightly irritated – it did not take long for her to realize exactly what the good doctor was playing at with having her write down all of this by hand, pictures included – he was giving her an extensive course of lectures. 

‘Hm, how could I? Didn’t you say you’d forget everything as soon as you would write it down?” He gave her that really annoying grin of his she hated, honestly wondering if she was too lenient with the good doctor. Still, he had a point - she did say that.

And obviously, that would be the case normally – if he didn’t blatantly intervene into the natural order of things. Seeing as Katarina would quite often work well into the night and feel absolutely miserable next thing in the morning, the good doctor started to brew her an “energy drink” of sorts, to help her keep her wits about her as much as possible.

Now, while it was indeed a godsend – partially due to being brewed by a literal god, she eventually began to be suspicious of the concoction, she firmly believed he was adding some sort of cognitive enhancer into it. The real deal and none of that placebo stuff they used to sell back in Japan to gullible people. Those never worked. She tried. 

“Stop playing coy, you’re annoying when you do. Still, I can’t say that I would mind helping people, but I’d rather not get hundreds of calls for help myself. I can’t save everyone after all.” Katarina still had to save herself, before she really could start saving everyone else. Then again…

“You’re a noble lady and your fiance is a prince. You will not be getting many desperate letters asking for help on frivolous nonsense, as wasting your time would get even other nobles in trouble. Those desperate enough to still send letters pleading for you to help…” Asclepius would rub his chin a little bit “Those would be good cases to work on for the both of us. Rare diseases or influential people seeking help, a win/win in my books.”

“I suppose you’re right. Then again, maybe if the amount of proficient doctors would go up, I wouldn’t have to worry about many of those “stupid” cases, as you would call them” Katarina would just let out a sigh and put her signature on the last page of the manuscript. It was actually a relief in a big way for her, as she wouldn’t be writing for a long time.

While the original proposed set of encyclopedias contained approximately twenty or so tomes like this, Katarina would insist they would only publish useful information and not literally everything, ever. As such, they were down to only eight of them. One for general medicine, one for advanced medicine and then one tome each per school of magic – which apparently there were six, something Katarina herself didn’t know until Asclepius himself mentioned it.

Now, as Asclepius wanted to do research on the magic of this world first and advanced medicine wasn’t available to Sorcier quiet yet, Katarina only had to really write one book for the foreseeable future – the one she just signed off.

And what a pain in her backside it was, honestly – the fact that it was “general” medicine meant nothing, as it was not only still rather complex – the finished work was so heavy and bulky it could very well serve as a murder weapon. It honestly felt surreal to have finished it, in a pretty tiny time frame too, to be honest. Then again, she wasn’t sure when was the list time she got a good night’s sleep. 

“And here we go.” Asclepius said, more than satisfied with the result “I must say, good job. Most people would just use a command seal to get out of doing this. I appreciate it, Master.”

Katarina would blush, every single time the good doctor would give a genuine compliment she felt her cheeks warm up. “It’s nothing… just do please try to pile less work onto me in the future. I miss having lots of free time, you know.”

“Yes, I suppose you would. I did mean it, about a job well done and as you know a job well done deserves a reward, Master.” Asclepius said, standing up from her desk “In this case, I suppose several.”

Katarina would perk up at the mention of rewards, no matter how old she was mentally, or how much work was piled onto her – she was still a kid, a young kid at that. The mere mention of a word “reward” was enough to remove any frown and get that blood pumping.

“Well, let’s hear all about them! They better be good, otherwise you’re not going to hear the end of it.” Katarina would cross her arms, already preparing an enormous pout just in case. Even the usually stiff doctor would chuckle heartily.

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad with you, am I – Master?” he would stop chuckling and would clear his throat “Okay, let's get started – first reward, I have gathered a list of promising people who would be able to handle the day to day operations for all of our immediate needs in production… which should considerably lighten your workload for a while.”

Katarina would do a fist pump, finally he would get out of her hair with that! Wait, what does he mean, for a while?

“Second reward, I have readied a considerable supply of all magical elixirs we will need to make your training with Chiyome as smooth as possible. In fact, the first point sort of feeds into this one, as you will be quite busy getting your butt handed to you, I assume.”

“Awesome! Thank you!” that really got Katarina going, sword practice was among the chief things she was missing and training with Chiyome meant she would get to spend more time with her family… and Mary, if Keith was to be believed. She wondered why no one else wanted to train with all of them, but didn’t bother to ask about it.

“Third reward… is this.” the good doctor would then procure a box from under the sofa. “You might want to see Chiyome about this, once we’re done.”

“Once we’re done?! Gimme! I want to open it now!” Katarina would reach for a box, which Asclepius in turn would move away from her. The jerk.

“There is one more matter I wish to discuss with you, Master. It’s serious.” he would call for her attention, Katarina would drop her antics immediately upon hearing that. “Good. I would classify this as a fourth reward, however I am not so sure if it would be pleasant, should you agree.”

“What do you mean?” Katarina would look at him, this sounded slightly concerning.

“You are aware that servants and the magecraft we utilize, is not of this world. Among other things.” Asclepius said, waiting for Katarina to make an awkward nod. “Are you also aware of your rather miserable magical limit, Master?”

“It’s… not as pathetic as it used to be, but yes. I am painfully aware, Asclepius.” Katarina would nod, she could raise the earth bump twice as high now – which was still a lot, considering she was still contributing energy to both her servants.

“Don’t take it as a personal attack, Master. My apologies.” for once the good doctor would actually apologize, a rare treat. “Still, magic in this world does not work quite the same way as it does in ours. In fact, us being here should be impossible, but clearly it isn’t. I never heard anyone in any written work here refer to magic circuits and they are an integral part of a servant-master relationship. After all, they supply us with the necessary magical energy.”

Katarina would think, that’s right – in Fate as she remembered, magical circuits were imprints on the soul with actual manifestation on the body – you could only summon servants if you were a magus and you had to have magical circuits to be a magus. She wondered just how the magical conversion worked between the two systems, before Asclepius spoke up again.

“What I am getting at, whatever it is what makes you special…” he would look at Katarina “...has most likely resulted in you gaining access to a set of magic circuits. Something unprecedented, but my interest in this isn’t as a doctor, but as a friend. Some of them are most likely dormant, activating them would probably allow you to summon more servants and actually do meaningful magecraft, in time.”

“Isn’t that process cripplingly painful?” Katarina would ask, the first thing which came to her mind, then she realized. Oh. That’s probably why he was hesitating to bring it up.

“Yes, it is. Ultimately, it is your de…” He was about to go into a lecture, before being interrupted.

“Let’s do it.” Katarina said, as she knew she had to get stronger - to meet the dangers ahead.

“Hm. No matter how much I teach… you are still an idiot, master.” Asclepius would sigh as he would clear up the sofa “Bare your back and sit here.”\

* * *

It would take a couple of minutes for Katarina to do so, while covering herself in the front to be decent. Even if they were a master-servant and Asclepius was a doctor, she still felt a little bit icky about being observed naked. Having sat down, the good doctor would begin examination.

It was honestly, as suspected – her body and soul seemed to be oddly compatible with magical circuitry despite not having any to begin with, a fact clearly abused by a particularly unpleasant fellow. The singular active magical circuit Asclepius could see, was artificially manufactured and implanted – it was of high quality, but still artificial. If he had to assume, this was the work of “ ** _Hero Creation_** ” skill the Magus of Flower possessed, or at least a very creative application of it.

Usually, Merlin’s " _ **Hero Creation"**_ skill would be described as a technique of creating a king. Giving birth and raising one – a very particular king in the face of Artoria Pendragon. However in this case, it was used differently – the application must have been done via Fou, as Katarina mentioned seeing him in her room the night before she summoned Chiyome. 

Asclepius would sigh, tracking his hand on Katarina’s back – there were two clusters of circuits, one which contained thirteen of them with a single one being active and one with twelve of them. Exact numbers to match her birthday, aren’t someone a funny guy. Well, they were of astounding quality - their activation would sting.

“Alright, bite on this – would you, master - it will hurt a lot. Feel free to bite in a little bit before we start, it should administer some painkillers.” Asclepius would hand Katarina a little contraption he made to bite down on, after she would do so he would go “Okay, all ready. Going now.”

He would then channel just a droplet of his mana through the two clusters of magical circuits and then would immediately take a firm, gentle hold of Katarina. Within a second, he would feel her trying to arch her back in pain, he would hold her firm until she stopped being an immediate danger to herself. He was glad he had the foresight of putting a silencing charm on the contraption he handed to her, as the scream would most likely rouse the entire mansion with ease.

‘I told you it wouldn’t be pleasant… but the pain shouldn’t stick for too long. Here, drink this.” he would proceed to treat Katarina, she looked rather pale and she did work up quite a bit of sweat from the surge of pain. “And just so you know, this was some really strong magical painkillers.”

“It didn’t look nearly as painful in the anime…” she said half an hour later, finally managing to speak a word, still shaking a bit.

Asclepius would raise an eyebrow. He was aware what that medium was, after all he had the pleasure of talking to Blackbeard a few times. A reincarnation case after all, then. Curious.

“Your circuits are of very high quality, doubt it tells you much, but still that is the fact. The better the circuits, the more mana they can produce and more it hurts to activate them. Just relax now. Let me get you to bed. I suppose you’ll have to open the other present tomorrow.” With that, he would assign her to a good night’s sleep treatment.

* * *

Next day, Katarina felt great – to her own surprise. It was as if she was more complete, much more energetic… or maybe it was all the medicine inside her talking, she wasn’t sure. One thing she was sure however is, she was rather confused by her other gift and what it meant…

What she was expecting? Well, literally anything – except this, maybe. What did she get? A rather nice looking set of shoes with ice skates attached to them, she didn’t even know they were made in Sorcier – she never seen anyone ice skate here before.

So Katarina had no choice but to follow the advice the good doctor gave to her – look for Chiyome and ask her what all this was about. Having found her sister, Katarina would ask her what the deal was. Of course, it was already close to the end of November and snow was plentiful alongside ice, but has it really hardened enough to skate on?

Much to her chagrin, Chiyome just gave her a smile, alongside a time and place to meet up – close by to a small lake. Only having met up with her there, Katarina got her answer.

“It’s a good practice to begin working on your agility. You have the grace of a flying rock, sis – if you’re planning to train with me, you need to raise those skills way up. Now, since we will all be starting together and you’re the most behind, this will be out very special one on one training, alright?” Chiyome did not mince any words whatsoever on this one, but she did not sound angry or anything, it was just a fact.

Katarina would think about it, she didn’t have to say that in such a rude fashion… but yes, a lot of sweets and desk work has left her… lazier than desirable. Still, she could have worded that nicer.

“Okay, first of all, let me show you the routine we will begin working towards first.” Chiyome would put her pair of skates on and would get on ice, it was giving off a slight glow – it was probably enchanted, Katarina figured. “C’mon sis, pay attention to me, not the ice.”

Chiyome did sound a bit displeased at having to say that, so Katarina promptly apologized and would focus on her adopted sister’s routine, it was… something. Now, Katarina knew she was much more dexterous then a normal human would – by a lot, but she honestly couldn’t expect Katarina to do all of that?! Surely?!

It was a fascinating, yet intimidating watch – Chiyome moved confidently executing every movement with ease, once she would start doing jumps – they weren’t just jumps, they were quadruple jumps – something Katarina knew was incredibly difficult to pull off. She was even pretty sure one set of them was quintuplets back to back, that would absolutely break her legs if she wasn’t a servant. And the way she would bend would most likely bend Katarina’s back permanently, if she was to try and – that just now was an illegal move, you weren’t allowed to do back-flips on ice! It was too dangerous… well, Chiyome wouldn’t even flinch if she fell on ice - Katarina would have to deal with a broken neck from that!

When Chiyome did finish the routine, she would slide over to stunned Katarina and ask what she thought of it.

“What kind of unreasonable expectations is that?!” was the only thing Katarina Claes managed to pitch in protest.

* * *

It would take quite a bit of arguing, going back and forward between the two girls before they managed to reach a mutual understanding on how difficult the end result of their training should be. Chiyome was insistent on the fact what Katarina would be able to do what she just saw, as it wasn’t that difficult in her eyes, while Katarina was adamant on the fact this would be way out of her league – she never even skated in her previous life, for crying out loud!

“I thought Asclepius said he fixed up the rest of your magic circuits…” Chiyome would finally quip, having given up “Well, we can start slow – it’s no problem.”

“Huh? What do magic circuits have to do with anything?” Katarina asked confused, before it hit her – magi in Fate, could utilize magic circuits to significantly enhance their bodies for short term performances, one notable example of that was Tohsaka Rin. “Oh… I get it now.”

“I’m… wait, he didn’t tell you, did he? The lazy…” Chiyome would sigh “Well, I'm glad you do. Let me show you how it’s done, now.”

Chiyome would then spend a little bit of time explaining to Katarina the concept and how to activate her magical circuits to strengthen her body, it was surprisingly easy and felt pleasant, warm – like a strong pepper drink. It did however make her body light up slightly, so she would have to be careful about doing it in public.

“Just don’t overuse this, as magic circuits generate magical energy out of your life energy. If you abuse it, you will regret it really fast, sis.” Chiyome would smile “But, I already stockpiled enough stuff for our training session for today. Snacks, drinks, medicinal supplies and even pestered Asclepius for some of that “energy drink” of his… what’s wrong?”

Chiyome would frown, as she noticed Katarina’s face would sour a little bit when she mentioned the last bit. Didn’t she like those?

Katarina in turn would pout for a little while, before speaking up. “I think I would like to try and learn this on my own… no magical cheats! I’m not that helpless!”

It honestly did hurt a little bit, she knew she wasn’t the most amazing pupil, but surely it would be nice to give it a try first before amplifying the learning rate magically, right?

Chiyome would tilt her head and would ask Katarina to explain what exactly she meant, after receiving a detailed answer about the supposed cognitive enhancing functions of the drink, the only thing the kunoichi managed to do is rub the bridge of her nose, irate.

She would then walk up to Katarina and give her a rather strong flick on her forehead, enough to bump Katarina into the modest pile of snow behind her.

“Ow! Ow, ow, ow! What was that for?!” Katarina would rub her forehead, she never seen Chiyome quite that mad at her before.

“Sister… Katarina. Master.” Chiyome spoke up, kneeling down a bit, her tone serious “That is perhaps, the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say and that should count for something.”

“What do you mean?” Katarina would look at her, slightly confused and slightly uncomfortable, Chiyome barely ever called her Master, so she really must have screwed up now.

“The magi of the world I am native to, are among some of the dumbest, selfish, vain people you would ever meet. Many of them meet their end not because of their lack of strength, but because of their lack of wit and common sense.” Chiyome spoke up “In their pursuit of power, in pursuit of the root – they sacrifice many things, oftentimes even their own humanity.”

Katarina would nod, in her previous life she wasn’t the biggest fan of Fate related works, but she knew the basic set of characters and their motivation and those words did ring true – majority of mages did seem rather … unpleasant. Bordering on the insane, actually.

“So tell me, if there was some sort of “cure it all” magical smart juice – don’t you think they would be consuming it by the tonnage?” Chiyome would look at Katarina, who would nod without saying anything “Well, let me tell you this, Master. They aren’t. Because there isn’t anything like that.”

“B-b-but…” Katarina would just look even more confused now “But Asclepius clearly…”

“He’s clearly egging you on. You think he can achieve absolutely anything, don’t you. Even the god of medicine has his limits, sister. Remember the one thing he always tells us when we mess up?” Chiyome would look Katarina right in the eye and together they uttered “The only thing I can’t cure is your stupidity. It’s just a mana rich cocktail with an extra portion of chocolate, to boost your serotonin levels.”

“I… don’t understand… then how did I learn so much from…” Katarina was about to speak up before Chiyome put a finger on her lips.

“Katarina… I do not understand who or what hurt you so much, what you have perhaps more self-esteem issues than I had, once upon a time.” Chiyome smiled, remembering her time as a timid servant, doubting and hating herself at every step of the way. Before she met Ritsuka and before she met Katarina. In fact, from the sideline, she would guess many would struggle to recognise her.

“But have you ever considered, what you might be smarter than you think you are? Or for that matter, the fact you don’t deserve to hate yourself?” Chiyome would put a hand on her shoulder “I hear you mumbling all of those nasty things about yourself, you know. None of them are true, surely you have to realise that eventually.”

The two girls would look at each other, before Katarina broke into tears. Of course, Chiyome has seen her cry before a few times, but never like that. These were not tears of joy, nor they were out of fear. They were familiar tears, of someone confused with their place in the world - with herself. Chiyome would embrace Katarina in a tight hug, just letting her let it all out.

Eventually, Katarina spoke up again – she would ask if Chiyome wanted to know the truth about Katarina and upon getting a confirmation, would speak out her heart to her sister. She would speak of her previous life, her reincarnation – her journey, her hopes and dreams and of her… destiny. Having finished, Katarina would look at Chiyome, hoping she would understand.

Chiyome would take a second to overlook her adopted older sister. She would remember the time Katarina’s request to call everyone her family seemed odd, it has been some time now… 

So this world and, she assumed from what she heard - her original world is just a pigment of someone’s imagination once upon a time. It was kind of funny in a way, but it was not imagination anymore. She was real, this world was real and most importantly…

“Katarina… remember the promise I made to your family? That I will protect you to my last breath? I meant it, with all my heart.” It was now Chiyome’s turn to cry, not aloud like Katarina, but her eyes wouldn’t lie “And I still do. Even if it is your destiny to become a villainess, I will be by your side. Asclepius will be by your side. Your family and everyone else will be by your side. That, I can swear. It doesn’t matter who you were destined to be, the only thing which matters is who you actually are.”

“Who I… actually… am?” She never thought of it that way, after all – she never really talked about this with anyone. She wasn’t quite the same person she was back in her previous life, nor was she Katarina Claes from before she regained her memories.

“Yes. You are not just a character in a story you saw somewhere. You are just as real now, as you were in your previous life. You don’t have to follow someone else's destiny written for you, you can make your own. Whenever you will want to be good or evil - the possibilities are out there for you. So tell me, Katarina Claes - who do you wish to be?” Chiyom would speak with unusual fervour, after all - her master reached a helping hand to her when she was still soaking in her own misery. It was time to return the favour.

“I think… I just want to be… the girl I am.” Katarina said, not really sure on how to put her thoughts into words. She understood what Chiyome meant and, thinking about it - she was probably right… in hindsight, she actually has practically nothing to worry about.

“In that case… forget about it. Forget about this talk, forget about these… doom flags, forget about it. Live not in the shadow of what you think is your destiny, live the way you want. Do what you did, be larger than life and smile. Leave the troubles and dangers to me and others. We will protect you. On that, I swear.” Chiyome would give her one more hug, then would kiss her on the forehead.

Funny, after all this time – Katarina felt at peace. Chiyome seldom lied, did she… so she should be fine. Finally, looking at the ice skates laying discarded close to them, Katarina speaks up. _“In that case… shall we try to... dance?”_

_“Yes. Yes, we shall.”_

The two girls would brave themselves to give each other a smile.

The world seemed so much brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never like putting things away to the point of ridicule, as such - the large majority of Katarina’s mental problems have been dealt with, at least partially. She will still have some troubles with her “doom flag” gimmicks, in the future - but at least it won’t be a crippling sort of obsession which she displayed at times in the anime and in here.   
> She is still sort of dense in romantic department, but as a result - she will start picking up on things canonical Katarina would just blatantly dismiss as the plot revolving around Maria, or something.   
> Some people might say, this is a little bit too fast - should wait for Academy days, but consider this - Chiyome is a servant who as I am portraying her here, overcame an enormous self-loathing personality. In large part due to Kat, as such - there is really no physical way this discussion would be put off for another 5 years in story time.  
> Anyway, as always - thank you for reading my story <3


	12. Chapter 10 - Survivors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As her 10th birthday finally draws near, Katarina finds herself in a most peculiar set of events.

Soon after starting ice dancing training with Chiyome, Katarina would find out that Asclepius had nothing on her in terms of being a slave-driver, the oldest of Claes children was now wondering if being a servant required one to be a meticulous teacher with a streak for sadism. It wouldn’t take more than a few days before they had to take a break, her ankles would ache – her knees shake a little and her forehead met the ice one too many times, thankfully with no repercussions this time.

Still, Chiyome did manage to drill a lot of groundwork in that small amount of time, it was efficient training, it would just be probably considered child abuse back in Japan. Actually, scratch that – _it definitely would be illegal._

Katarina would just sigh, as she would start getting out of the bed. The muscles would strain immediately, but she had to push on – she had business to attend today and thankfully it wasn’t paperwork. Maria finally felt confident enough in helping her job along, where Katarina could afford a full day’s rest from that nightmare.

The moment Katarina would actually try to get out of bed, she would hear Fou running for the door while yelling “ **Fou!** ” (Special translation: The idiot is trying to get up! Help!), clearly calling for her maids. Wow, such treachery. 

“Lady Katarina, please don’t strain yourself like that! We are here for a reason!” Cecilia would run up to her, with a strict tone to her as she would help her get up, she and Anne were going absolutely mental over her well being as of late and were intent on hauling her around everywhere if need be. Did they ask Fou to snitch at her? Clever.

“I’m fine, I’m fine – I swear! I can move on my…” Katarina would try to motion Cecilia away, but would meet a stern look from Anne who followed just behind, there was no escaping, huh. Fine, jeez. 

“Thanks… I would like to dress for the summoning, it should be about time for everyone to gather.”

* * *

Generally, Katarina would maybe prefer not to make such a spectacle out of performing an unknown magecraft gifted to her by some outside force, however – Sophia, Nicol and Maria never participated in summoning Asclepius, as they haven’t met her back then yet. They were most curious and would often bring up if she was planning on summoning more, so just for fairness sake she decided everyone would be free to attend if they wished… again.

And just like last time, having dressed up and arriving to the summoning circle – everyone was there, with the sole exception of the Queen of Sorcier, who had put a request to visit one of these herself, however just so happens she was currently occupied with preparations for a festival of some sorts, or something.

“I see we have new faces today….” Geordo would smile, he was looking forward to seeing Nicol’s reaction. If this was not going to get his face to betray him with some emotion, nothing ever would.

“New faces? No, your face is the same as it was before Your Majesty, as sad as it is to say.” Mary would speak up, dodging an elbow nudge from the third prince.

“Yes, stealing faces has become that much more difficult with you in business, Mary.” Geordo would retort immediately rolling his eyes slightly, causing Mary to giggle. 

“Alright, I’ll give you that one. So, Katarina – how are you today? Still sore from that mystery chore you won’t tell us anything about?” Mary would switch attention to Katarina as she arrived, practically being carried by her maids.

“You seem rather beat up, Katarina… are you sure it's nothing important?” Geordo would take Mary’s hint and would focus on that mysterious activity Katarina was doing and for once, absolutely refused to divulge any information about – even to Keith. They knew, as they already asked. At the very least their parents seemed to be okay with it, so it was safe at the very least… but still – curiosity killed the cat..

“It’s alright guys, I’m fine! So, is everyone ready? Sophia, Nicol, Maria and I suppose Cecilia, you never saw how this goes…. Please, just stand here and watch carefully, alright?” Katarina would hastily switch the topic from her beat up state to the ritual at hand “So after talking with Chiyome and Asclepius, I think the best bet would be to try and hope for a “Rider” class servant.”

“Rider class…. That does sound pretty straight forward in application, sister.” Keith spoke up, he knew the general breakdown of classes anyway, but wanted to chime in on the discussion. If he recalled correctly, Chiyome referred to Rider class as the second strongest in quality of heroic spirits after Saber class.

“Are you excited to see what will happen, Lady Sophia?” Maria would ask the albino girl, the two of them were on fast track of becoming close friends, not only due to Katarina – but also Maria’s new found love for romantic novels, now that she had free access to them thanks to living in Claes Mansion. It helped that novels were easy to get in and out of, as her work flow demanded.

“Yes, it’s all rather exciting. It’s like in…” the two girls would not get the chance to go further, as Katarina would call for attention.

“Alright, I’m going! Please keep a respectable distance, everyone!” Katarina would then walk up to the summoning circle and began to chant.

**“** **_I hereby propose, give thy body unto me”._ **

She was never as confident in her summoning as now, really. The first time was happenstance. The second was necessity, plagued with a doubt in the back of her head. This time however, she knew why she was doing this. For herself. For her family. For her friends. For her country. Fou fou. (Special translation: For Fou).

It was selfish, she knew that much – but it was okay to be selfish. It was okay to be herself. It was okay to be Katarina Claes, a girl who wanted to protect those she held dear.

**“** **_Give thy sword unto my hands.”_ **

Katarina would realize her body was glowing, the magical circuits springing in action – this never happened before, she was fairly confident she never even used up quite as much magical energy to summon before. She felt a strong connection, to a place far far away.

**“** **_If in accordance to the summons of the Holy Grail, thou dost accede to this will, this reason, then answer me!”_ **

The whirlwind of magic would engulf the area, even those who saw it before – namely Geordo and Keith would take a step back, as it was just so much more powerful than last time. Nicol for his part, would open his mouth a little bit, which in his terminology as per Sophia meant, he was absolutely blown away by the force presented.

**“** **_I hereby swear, I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world!”_ **

**“** **_Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”_ **

One more blinding flash would cover the area, when it cleared – everyone present could see a man in a long coat. With an unkempt beard, which looked like it was a little bit burnt and a slightly concerned look on his face, he looked like a right buccaneer. His hand was on his hip, where his sword usually would be – however instead he had some sort of weird looking pipe, which Katarina recognized was a flintlock. There was an audible groan of pain, coming from Chiyome.

The mysterious man's expression would immediately soften up, as he would focus on Chiyome then Katarina.

“Well, well, well. My goodness! What a coincidence! Fahaha! Blackbeard has come to see you! What a cute master I have, lucky lucky me. And accompanied by no one else but my favorite miko kunoichi widow! How about that date we still never agreed on?” the man would speak up, identifying himself to Katarina as none other than Edward Teach.

Wait, why was he lecherous towards Chiyome? For the first time since she got them, Katarina felt the urge to use a command seal for… a personal reason. Wait, why was she jealous?

“Katarina, let me just smack some sense into him.” Chiyome would look at Katarina, heading towards Blackbeard. She did have the class advantage, after all.

“H-huh?! That’s a weird reaction from you… where’s all the blushing? The stuttering? You are not even going to complain?! Wait, what are you doing...” Teach would panic as Chiyome would in fact smack some sense into him, while everyone watched. Smacked into the ground with a flat side of the blade, enough to make a visible dent in the ground.

“And that's why you shouldn’t play hard to get when you are hard to want, Blackbeard.” Chiyome claimed, as the stars were still spinning in his eyes.

The pirate would in turn just shake his head, coming back to his senses and would get out of the newly formed Blackbeard sized hole.

“Well, this is an interesting gig you're running here, master. Never thought out of all the servants to grow a spine it would be you, ChiChi… mind filling me in on the details, master?”

* * *

The explanation had to wait until the evening however, Katarina had guests to attend to and they wanted to ask questions – to her and to the new arrival. Mostly, why was he acting like a fool and spouting nonsense in his answers, something he would do despite getting a quick punch from Chiyome every time he said something inappropriate.

Only after everyone left in a good mood, could they gather to “fill him in”. Teach would finally shut up, dropping his idiot act to show his more serious, silent side. His face betrayed little emotions, until he would finally speak up.

“I know you will think I am trolling you, I am not. But can you go into detail about this Alien God you mentioned?” Blackbeard would ask, Chiyome did seem to be irate by him – he was supposed to know this, after all – but would go into details, finally sharing the story of how exactly things went back in Chaldea from her point of view. This story even Katarina did not hear up until now, not in full at the very least – it was a bit scary, to think of the entire modern Earth being wiped out in just a few short months.

“Dammit…” Blackbeard would finally say, after Chiyome would finish her story looking at Asclepius “And you’re the same then, doc?”

“Yes, that is how it all went down to a letter. Now, you haven’t actually called me by my name once yet, Blackbeard and I do remember you doing so numerous times in the past. Would it be safe to assume, you simply don’t know who I am exactly?” the good doctor spoke up, having picked up on that fact rather fast “There is no shame to it, it’s just a big concern if that is the case.”

Katarina would look at everyone, as Chiyome’s head would dart to Blackbeard. He would just stroke his beard a bit.

“Yes, that would be the correct assumption. I remember Chiyome as one of the new additions to our friendly roster, just a few short months before New Years eve. Which as far as I recall, been just a few brief hours ago, they started to shut down the summons and I was among the first batch to head back to the Throne.” Blackbeard would feel a migraine come over him “You reckon there is a chance… no, that wouldn’t work. Dammit! Master is out there, probably facing danger!”

Blackbeard would stand up and pace, it was actually a stark contrast to how goofy he was acting just before all of this. Actually, to be specific for some reason he was acting like a perverted otaku – which was a weird act to do, considering it would go over most people’s heads – or so thought Katarina.

“Tell us everything.” Chiyome would demand, looking at him.

“Hai hai, listen careful.” Blackbeard would sit back down and tell events as he saw them to the detail, every oddity he could recall before being sent back to the throne of heroes and ending up here, instead.

“That… does appear to be closely related to how things should play out… so they should be safe, unless there is some sort of butterfly effect in action.” Asclepius would conclude “However it is concerning what Master has now summoned servants from two different timelines of action. Now, does anyone have any idea how to proceed?”

“Surely there is something we can do to help if what you’re saying is truth.” Chiyome spoke up, looking at everyone, she knew it wasn’t HER Ritsuka, but the hard earned loyalty and love was something without real boundaries, at least in this case.

Katarina would look at Chiyome, she was… not sure how to feel. She felt for everyone in here and noted their looks of concern, but if that Alien God was really so powerful, could he perhaps retaliate back if they were to stick their head out to help? Should she put her foot down, proverbially speaking?

But… would they get mad if she did? Surely they wouldn’t leave her if she… gah! What a difficult situation and Katarina wasn’t sure what to make of it. So she decided to hold her tongue for now, as Blackbeard spoke up.

“If Master still has enough juice to summon one more servant, I should be able to provide a catalyst which would summon someone who could help. I have it on pretty good authority it would work.” Blackbeard spoke up, looking at Katarina “What do you say, Master? I know I’m a new face around, but would you consider helping out?”

Blackbeard was many things, a weird servant for one – a murderer, pillager and someone who was surprisingly good with kids, as in – he enjoyed playing different games like tag with them. He was a difficult fruit to handle and caused a fair share of problems, at least that’s how Chiyome saw him all these years. But there was no denying his razor sharp intuition and wit, as well as his reliability as a friend. Out of all the servants, he was perhaps the most reliable on average.

“I… yes.” Katarina would say, not really finding it in herself to refuse. They all looked so hopeful. How could she deny them this? “But this isn’t the world you all hail from, how would you procure a catalyst? Make it.. yourself?”

“Ah, leave it to me, Master… I will need some sewing supplies tho, teehee.” He would give Katarina a rather happy, if slightly perverted grin, causing Chiyome to smack him “Ow! Uncalled for!”

* * *

It wouldn’t take more than a few days for Blackbeard to produce the catalyst as promised, however looking at it, Katarina would doubt his sanity… and would understand why Chiyome beat the everliving daylight out of him. It was perhaps, the most scandalous set of ladies unmentionables she has ever seen, made in silky blue material – it was absolutely scandalous to even look at! Not even back in Japan would she think this was appropriate. She felt dirty.

“What. Is. That.” Miri would ask, as Katarina would place the catalyst in the circle, she would almost have a heart attack herself, looking at… whatever that was.

“It’s a catalyst for someone they asked me to summon, mother. It’s a bit shocking, I agree.” Katarina said, trying to ease her mother “They haven’t told me who it will be, but Chiyome and Asclepius have confirmed it should work.”

In fact, both of them gave approving nods upon seeing the catalyst in question, as if they instantly realized who this was going to bring forth. They refused to tell her, smiling and saying she should see for herself, the jerks. She just hoped whatever outfit the mystery person would have, would not all be made in that fashion.

“Just um, let’s do the summoning and never mention this again.” Katarina said, this time around it was a much smaller circle of people, everyone did have real life responsibilities after all – it was Katarina, Keith, Chiyome, Asclepius, Maria and Miri.

Blackbeard was also supposed to be there, but he refused to show his mug saying that he wasn’t feeling that suicidal at the moment, which was… already kind of self-explanatory.

Katarina would prepare herself and would start channeling all of her mana into the summoning ritual. She would chant, chant, chant. She just hoped this person would be able to solve this issue, without putting everyone in the way of danger.

**“** **_Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”_ **

* * *

_Meanwhile. Another side, Another story._

_Recovered record from Shadow Border’s mainframe._

***Sounds of static, followed by a pained coughing of a young girl***

“Technical Advisor’s Da Vinci Lily’s personal log. 6:29 pm. January 2020.”

“This will most likely be my final entry in this log. Hm… it didn’t last that long, did it. This journey… honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, but despite our best efforts – the odds were just too great against us. Everything we had, it was… not good enough.”

“Still, I suppose I should be more formal about this – the state of the Shadow Border is catastrophic. We sustained critical damage in Scandinavian Lostbelt, having run into a servant wielding what I believe to be a demonic sword of some description. While we did manage to escape by deploying the Paper Moon to slip into Imaginary Numbers Space, we will most certainly all die within a few hours. I wonder if I should have not listened to Goredolf and should have just surrendered… maybe at the very least, they would have allowed Ritsuka and Mash to live a peaceful life, somewhere.”

The recording gets a little less eligible, as the speaker appears to tear up.

“While I intercepted the death rune meant for Ritsuka and managed to survive it at the same time, I do not believe I will remain that way for long. Holmes is still alive too, having received the same kind of damage – but unlike me he can’t even speak up without surely perishing. At the very least I can move around slowly, without triggering the death rune. Mash is on the verge too, having gone up against our assailant in direct combat - thankfully it seems our assailant was not permitted to kill her. Goredolf, Ritsuka, Meuniere and Sylvia are fine, mostly unharmed – but it doesn’t matter.”

“We… appear to have lost any sort of anchor to the real space during our emergency jump to Imaginary Number Space. As such, there is no way home. The logic walls around the Border will not hold forever, the moment they fall - so will the concept which proves our existence in this space and then…”

“We will die one of the most horrible deaths imaginable.”

At this point there is a weak, hysterical laughter.

“What a joke of a guardian I turned out to be… despite having the memories of my adult self and being made with just one goal in mind, to keep Ritsuka and Mash safe - I still managed to fail this task in the most spectacular way possible. So much for a masterpiece of a perfect genius. Beautiful journey, my ass.”

“They deserve so much more than this. They deserve a happy life, free of all of this. Idiot, idiot, idiot! I should have… I should have…”

There is a prolonged period of silence in the recording.

“No… I can’t give up. I need to keep fighting, until the bitter end. You are better than this, Da Vinci. Old me always said, Mona Lisa mustn’t lose her smile, ever. So neither can Bella Lisa.”

There are sounds of groaning, as the person making the recording struggles to get up.

“Let’s see… once I kick the bucket, the Shadow Border will lose it’s mainframe. A little bit of a problem, yes – as that would make it even more so a bucket of bolts then it is already. Could I control it remotely… yes.”

“Remote control… could potentially work. Would need to… open up the system. Yeah…”

There is another prolonged silence, only audible thing being a lot of uneven deep breaths.

“It’s a long shot, but... the only sensible plan I could figure out so far is to simply… attempt to hijack onto a spirit origin of my older self. In another timeline or singularity or even one of the lostbelts. Any of these could work, it would just take one in a billion shot… I am not a heroic spirit myself, after all.”

“There is only one problem… to make this plan work… there is something that must be done.”

There is another pause, as the speaker moves closer to the recording device.

“I am sorry for the way you will find me, Ritsuka. I know that victory based on sacrifice is no victory at all. But if I am to do this… I am just a replica, after all… don’t be too sad. Let us all dream for the stars, together.”

There is a sound of a young girl overexercising herself and then a slight pained groan, followed by a thump of a tiny body hitting the floor.

Silence follows.

End of the recording.

* * *

**“** **_Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”_ **

This time the flash is a little bit different, Katarina noted – it wasn’t just a flash of blinding white light, but it seemed to have all colors of the rainbow mixed in, did that mean something? She honestly had no idea, but when her eyes could see again – she saw in front of herself a beautiful, voluptuous woman, she was unlike anyone else she has ever seen.

It was an absolutely enchanting look, so much so Katarina wondered if that was one of those conceptual magical effects Asclepius mentioned several times before. It was just… too much. Katarina also noted her outfit, it was a nice mix of red and blues, that made sense.

The woman in question would look around, then stop her eyes at Katarina, before speaking up.

“Nice to meet you, Master. I am servant – caster. Leonardo Da Vinci. I will be your Da Vinci-chan, please take good care of me. However, first…”

She would bend over, to pick up the unmentionables which were used as a catalyst to summon her.

“Could I please ask, how did you acquire this item?”

She had this tranquil fury smile to her, as if she was going to kill whoever was responsible. So that’s why Blackbeard decided to skip town for a few days.

“Aaah… let’s get inside and I’ll explain?” Katarina would say, still trying to process a few things. Okay, Da Vinci – that made sense and also didn’t at the same time. She wasn’t the best at history, but she was fairly sure Da Vinci was a he – the woman in front of her however DID look like Mona Lisa… what was going on?!

“As you wish, Master.” Da Vinci would shrug and just chuck the unmentionables off into the direction of the forest behind the estate, not wishing to see them. They would then all head for the Claes mansion, this was the fun part – introducing everyone and explaining the things to the new servant.

* * *

“Okay, so Blackbeard is the one - good, I will kill him later.” Da Vinci spoke up, having heard their explanation “So, this is how it is. Yes, I’m afraid that would be the case.”

They were all sitting with some tea and baked goods. Even with increased magical potency from Katarina’s side, all of her servants still had to supply additional mana via food and well, sweets just worked the best due to Katarina’s affinity to them.

“Because, the last thing I remember before appearing here - was sending everyone off on the Shadow Border, after having my chest pierced by a rather nasty priest. Literally, with his hand.” Da Vinci said, touching somewhere between her breast “Oh boy, so there is such a difficult journey ahead of them. Thank you for summoning me, Master.”

“I-it’s nothing.” Katarina said, truth be told she was still reluctant about having done so – but if the woman in front really was… Da Vinci, even if genderbent – she would be an invaluable asset one way or another. World renowned genius and all.

“But I’m afraid there is very little which could be done to help them, especially without a reason to do so.” Da Vinci would continue “From what I am seeing, the technology of this world isn’t anywhere near advanced enough for cross realm communication without application of the Second True Magic… and unless you happen to be a user of Kaleidoscope, there’s not much I can do subtly.”

Katarina would perk up a little bit at hearing that, they tried and failed – nothing wrong with that. Well, she supposed she still should be concerned for people her friends held so dear, but still. She could be selfish, right?

“I have no idea what that is, so…” Katarina would mention giving an adorable smile “But, I am more than glad to have you around, Da Vinci-chan!”

“And I’m glad to be here. To be honest, that’s a burden kind of off my shoulders, I hope they will be alright just like you told me they should be. There aren't any real differences as far as I’m concerned, so fingers crossed.” Da Vinci would muse “So, please tell me more about yourself, Master.”

“Oh, well – where to start…” This was Katarina’s favorite part, making new friends.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in between the Hunt family’s many farms and plantations, which were mostly closed for the winter – a young girl would come to her senses. Her whole body was in pain, she was cold and miserable. She would stand up with a groan, trying to get her bearings on her situation… she… was alive!

The joy of such a simple thing would overwhelm her, she barely even felt the frostburn she was suffering, after all - that means, there was hope.

A hope to save her friends. A hope to not be a failure she already almost believed herself to be.

She would look around, not really understanding where she was – sure, she could feel a summoning circle around her – but it was way too big, humongous even, a work of an amateur – implementing buildings and other constructions into itself, no doubt. Suicidal. Still, she wouldn’t find many ill words to say about the contraption as she was fairly sure it was the reason she even managed to achieve this miracle. 

She would sigh, there was no time to ponder on trivial matters, she was going to freeze to death if she didn’t get a move on. She would try to focus her inner thoughts on her potential master, before she realized…

She felt no connection to a master. She was… she felt this body was one of a heroic spirit, yes – unlike the previous spare body which actually was physical, homunculi like body. She clearway recalled intentionally triggering the death rune and dying. The process felt a little bit odd to her, really.

But she had no active connection to a source of mana. She did not possess “independent manifestation” skill, either. She also wasn’t a proper heroic spirit registered at the Throne of Heroes, so there were no second chances. If she died, she would die for good. And her current body, without a master would most likely be just as flimsy as a normal human girl – who was stuck in the middle of a winter in the unknown, dressed rather not to the weather.

Panic would set in again, as she would move out trying to generate some warmth for herself – she had to find some sort of shelter somewhere and fast. Some food, too – if possible. She would have to convert mana the old fashioned ways and, there were only a few of those…two to be specific, food and vigorous love making. 

She would wander about blindly, trying to make sense of her surroundings – she could see a castle in the distance and an outline of a city, so she found herself in more ancient times, by the looks of it. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem.

There would be very few things worse than being a nobody with nothing to her name in a society full of nobles. The journey ahead could get rough, fast. Still, she would not give up… if she had to – she would kiss every noble boot in this world, to get what she wanted. She would save her friends, that was a promise.

* * *

A few days would pass, the exact date would be December 8th, as Da Vinci Lily figured out pretty fast. It was five days before the so-called “Starlight Snow Festival”, which was officially announced just yesterday. A kingdom wide festival for the whole day and night, scheduled for December 13th. Free food, dances and many other Crown funded activities, it sounded like it would be a fun time – but that wasn’t the most interesting piece of information for Lily.

What was important to her was the rumors surrounding the festival, supposedly – a lot of people were mentioning how the crown so blatantly decided to have a holiday to celebrate the birthday of a local prodigy, a young girl going by the name of Katarina Claes. They were happy, of course to the most part – who would say no to free food?

Well, Da Vinci herself wouldn’t say no – she was barely making it by day to day, but the point was – she herself was a prodigy, or at least a copy of a prodigy, an unrivaled genius. Now, her genius sense would tell her a simple fact – magic in this world seemed to be about as similar to the magic she was familiar with as ice was to fire.

So it would take a miracle for someone here to be able to summon a heroic spirit. Or, it would take a prodigy. Or well, she doubted she was an actual prodigy – just someone who most likely summoned a bunch of heroic spirits and cashed in their knowledge to get ahead in life. Smart decision, really.

Further digging only confirmed that, as supposedly the younger sister of miss Claes held the name “Chiyome” and from description looked suspiciously like a very particular kunoichi. So that must be the person she was looking for, now it was just the matter of approaching her and hopefully not having Chiyome kill her on the spot.

After all, this body was revealed after Chiyome had been sent back to the Throne of Heroes, so she wouldn’t know it was her. And knowing the kunoichi, any danger to her master would be met with some variant of deadly force. So, overall - this was an infuriatingly difficult task to approach. In the end, she decided to learn more about Katarina Claes from the rumor mill, to get a better idea about the girl, maybe glean an opportunity to approach her.

She… was not sure how to feel about the situation, after having done so. Supposedly, the rumors had it that Katarina was… a very special girl, many considered her an angel, but she had a certain reputation of… charming many people, with the intent of gathering a harem, of all things.

The most adamant out of these rumors was the one which implied that, despite her being so young she was really into older women – due to her selection of maids and how they behaved themselves around her. This was both troubling and also explained a few things to Da Vinci, at least if the rumors were to be believed.

After all, if one was… a fan of older women and appreciated arts, her older self would be pretty much the perfect score and it was fairly likely the young Katarina would be one of those nobles, who prized vanity above all else. So the most she thought about it, the more pieces fell into the place.

Eventually of course, she would try an incursion towards the Claes estate, from the forested side as it was the least likely to have measures to detect her approach. She wanted to at least get a glimpse at the place, just in case she had to go there again in the future. What she found however…

In a small clearing by the river, perfect for a little one on one time – right in the middle of the forest, she found her underwear. Or well, “her” as in – the stuff her older self would wear. It was slightly torn, as if either of the two things happened – someone threw it really hard and it got damaged by the trees on the way here, or the more likely outcome – someone ripped them right off the wearer.

Lily’s cheeks would turn ablaze, had she no shame?! Just out here in the forest, in the middle of the winter?! The desire to bury her face into her hands would overcome her, so she would do exactly that, just assessing everything once again.

Well, that was one rumor confirmed. What a disaster. Looking around, there is no sign of struggle between the servants, so it was… willing?

She wasn’t sure how she managed to make her adult self to agree to debauchery like that, but… for once in her life, Da Vinci hoped her older self did not disappoint her mistress in… those duties. It would be a lot easier for Lily to pitch her case, if her older self already had significant goodwill with her master. After all, what she was going to ask would be… lunacy, really.

To be truthful, Lily’s confidence was significantly shaken by this discovery, as well as others. It was clear that the young Claes was surrounding herself with heroic spirits, somehow – including her adult self. She already was pretty well covered, by the looks of it, too. What would she do, just barge in and demand help? They’d laugh at her in the best case scenario and get rid of her in the worst.

She would pick up the ruined piece of unmentionables up, examining it, wondering.

So did she only fancy older women? After all, as long as she would get Ritsuka and Mash and everyone else to safety… a lifetime of indentured servitude as a... lover was… not that high a price to pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, we finally getting to the plot at large. So first of all, a few explanations.
> 
> There is 3 Timelines in play, related to servants.  
> Line A) Chiyome & Asclepius, where Chaldea reached a happy ending and everything is just fine.  
> Line B) Blackbeard & Da Vinci Caster, where the events of Lostbelt 1 are starting, think of it as canonical game timeline.  
> Line C) Da Vinci Lily, the failed state which in theory could have happened in Lostbelt 2, a complete disaster and the timeline most relevant to the future events. In this timeline, but butterfly effect leading to the disaster is rather simple - the body housing Da Vinci Lily was not as well optimized as in other timelines, as such she is a slightly different person from what you would expect.
> 
> \--- New Servant Summoned! ---  
> True Name: Edward Teach  
> Class: Rider  
> Alignment: Chaotic Evil  
> STR: B+, END: A, AGI: E, MANA: D, LUCK: C, NP: C  
> Height/Weight: 210cm・114kg  
> Magic Resistance E
> 
> A fearsome pirate of legends, who likes to pretend to be an idiot and a lecherous otaku. Despite his antics, is actually a nice guy when you get to know him. With a sharp mind for strategy, razor sharp wit and intuition second to none he is one of the best at what he does - take what he wants from the world and leave nothing behind.  
> He is actually an otaku, but he overplays that bit specifically since it makes people not take him seriously.
> 
> \--- New Servant Summoned! ---  
> True Name: Leonardo Da Vinci  
> Class: Caster  
> Alignment: Chaotic Good  
> STR: E, END: E, AGI: C, MANA: A+, LUCK: B, NP: EX  
> Height/Weight: 160cm・40kg  
> Territory Creation A  
> Item Construction A  
> Golden Rule (Body) B - a Skill that denotes the possession of a natural and perfect goddess-like body, preserving beauty.
> 
> \--- New Servant Summoned! ---  
> True Name: Leonardo Da Vinci Lily / Lolivinci / Da Vinci Rider  
> Class: Rider  
> Alignment: Lawful Good  
> STR: E- (Downgrade), END: E- (Downgrade), AGI: B, MANA: A, LUCK: A+, NP: B  
> Height/Weight: 138cm・36kg  
> Riding B  
> Territory Creation C  
> Overhaul E  
> Golden Rule (Body) EX  
> Dreams for the Stars (False) (E- Rank) As someone created by Da Vinci, the "peak of human sentience", young girl Da Vinci had that sentience passed down to her, and in theory she should understand the true "objectivity" that comes from being a transient, short-lived being. However, somewhere along the line the beautiful truth have turned into a malign curse, clouding both reason and vision and turning its victim into a coward - a simple goal of avoiding hardships and suffering at practically any means, justifying it in the name of the greater good.
> 
> Overall, I suspect a lot of people will take issue with this version of Da VInci Lily, but I like it in a specific way, so I'll stick to my guns. To explain it bluntly - she suffers the same issue Katarina did, just worse. For Katarina it was a mental issue, for her its literally hard wired into her body.


	13. Chapter 11 - Between the Darkness and the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katarina's birthday is here, as well as some unlikely events.

Day by day, the preparations for Katarina’s birthday would get more and more intense – Miri would be taking direct charge of everyone’s effort on the family side for some time now, even before the Starlight Snow Festival was officially announced. She was fairly certain something like this would happen, it was a special occasion after all. Katarina would only have one tenth birthday and someone out of her potential suitors was bound to go for a power play, if she had to guess this was either Geordo or Chiyome. 

It was still a little bit hard to believe, honesty – she still remembered the day Asclepius showed up in her study, as she was reading a nice book while Luigi was giving her a massage and _straight up ruined the mood_ by bringing up the love whirlpool Katarina found herself in the middle of, without even realizing.

And while it was hard to believe at first, it was even harder to really come to terms with it. Miri recalled her first instinct was to scold both Keith and Chiyome - to make sure they would get the nasty thought out of their heads, but… while she was confident both would obey… to break their hearts like that, she would never forgive herself. 

At the very least, since none of them were directly related by blood, it would be fine if either of them married Katarina in the future… or both at the same time. Or if the “Harem” as Asclepius called it would form with everyone included, that would be fine too. Of course, the Claes family name would suffer, but between the ever growing amount of heroic spirits running amoc and ever increasing wealth the medicine business was bringing to the household… they didn’t need a reputation to function ahead of everyone anymore. In fact, maybe there was even some value to be gained in it.

As such, the executive decision in the end was – let Katarina sort it all out, at her own pace and they would simply back her up on whatever she decided. Getting involved directly would only make things awkward for everyone and honestly, if anyone would manage to run a loving family of a dozen husbands and wife's, it would probably be their daughter. 

Of course, all of that being said and done – there was a certain need to moderate the events, to make sure everyone got an equal opportunity – and planning something like that took a lot of effort, money and mental energy. Everyone needed new sets of formal wear, new jewelry, the best they could possibly provide – and it had to be fair. 

Katarina was the star of the show, she could stand out like one - but everyone else would have to be equalized one way or another. Especially Maria, who would require lots of help, as she was not of any noble standing and while Katarina paid her more than generous salary, it was still hardly enough to compete. What a pain in Miri’’s backside.

Still, it was worth a try. She just hoped her own preferences in who would win would not influence her decisions. Fair and Impartial. That was the goal.

* * *

“Wow, Katarina, you look gorgeous in that dress.” Maria would compliment her ever gorgeous friend and benevolent boss, as she was helping her with fittings for the new dress which arrived just a day before Katarina’s birthday. It was such a delicate finery, Maria felt too poor to even look at it, let alone touch it. 

“Thank you, Maria! Your dress is also really pretty, I must say. Mother really does have the best taste for dress… ow!” Katarina would twitch as she felt Da Vinci poke her with a needle, the ever so helpful genius was inscribing rune-work into the dress to make sure it would be nice and cozy in the conditions of the festival. “Cut that out! I saw your preference in un.. Ow! Ow! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Y-yes, it’s an amazing dress, but it doesn’t’ hold the candle to this one, Katarina.” Maria said, sort of looking awkwardly between Katarina and Da Vinci, not sure if she should intervene or not “A-and that’s not a complaint! I will forever be grateful to Lady Claes for thinking about me, when ordering everything. It’s just that, you look heavenly in it. In fact, scratch my earlier remark - you make this dress look gorgeous, not the other way around.”

“Well, you say that – but if it’s me making this dress look gorgeous, then you will absolutely destroy me once you will try yours on. After all, you are much prettier than me. All of you are, actually – I’m a tad jealous.’ Katarina said faking a pout, but she was speaking honestly and from the heart. Even if the only person who could objectively compete with Katarina in prettiness was Da Vinci.

Da Vinci would just shake her head slightly, rolling her eyes - thinking something along the lines of “get a room you two”. Honestly, she was even worse than Ritsuka about romance - at least Fujimaru would realise someone was in love with them, even if she would prefer to just change the topic firmly to something innocent and irrelevant to romance every time.

Maria really had no reply to that, promptly turning away to hide her blush. “T-thank you, Katarina. A-anyway, there was this thing I wanted to ask… once we are at the festival, would you care for a dance?”

“A dance? Hm, how odd - Sophia also wanted to have a dance with me…. Sure, why not! I hope you don’t mind if I’ll lead?”

“A-aaah… n-not at all!” Maria would say, thankful Katarina would agree. Of course, she knew Sophia would ask Katarina for a dance, she was learning for it, just like Maria did - specifically not to let her have that easy victory. The only problem however was, she also learned only the male part and Katarina’s counter request took her off guard.

“Okay, that’s all done. Go show off to Lady Claes, Master.” Da Vinci would pat Katarina on her head, before shooing her off gently and looking at Maria. “So, you want a couple of fast, Da Vinci branded dancing lessons then?”

“Y-yes please!” Maria wouldn’t even think a second before replying, it only been a few days and she already was liking Lady Da Vinci. 

* * *

“I must say, Chi – you really outdone yourself. I think Geordo will be absolutely miffed if you’ll pull this off.” Keith would speak up, as he was making sure the suit part of Chiyome’s new dress was perfect, it was a little bit of an odd style – a mix of a dress and a suit, so she did require his help with the upper part.

“Oh, he will be livid and will most likely go on the offensive himself… but it’s actually Maria I am worried about.” Chiyome would admit, wistful “I swear, if I knew they would get so close over work of all things, I would try to squeeze some extra time myself to help Katarina with all of this paperwork.”

“You already run around the whole of Sorcier all day and night. You haven’t slept in your bed for a week now. There is nothing to squeeze, no matter how much you try. Anyway, this looks good. You sure you can pull this off, right?” Keith would shake his head a little bit, as strong as Chi was, if she would try to pick up even more work, he would have to pull Katarina in for an intervention. 

“Of course. Have a little bit of faith, brother~” Chiyome would giggle, she was glad that after the year and a half or so since they met, Keith’s opinion of her has changed for the better. Of course, he still was a rival – as in, he wanted to be the one to win eventually in their struggle for Katarina, but that did not stop them from growing closer as siblings.

“I hear that from Katarina every other day and you should know how that song and dance goes.” Keith would just tilt his head “But yes, I believe you can pull it off… but I still think she will just say something along the lines of “Of course I love you too, sis.” and then that’ll be that.”

“Of course” Chiyome would affirm “It wouldn’t be Katarina otherwise, now would it?”

They would both laugh at their shared misery.

* * *

Finally, it would be December 13 th , the day of Katarina’s birthday and the day of “Starlight Snow Festival”. The whole of Sorcier was buzzing to no one's surprise, free food and entertainment for the whole day and night – that alone caused quite a commotion. All across the country, even the smallest communities would be decorated for such an event, the combinations of magical lights and vivid colors and drapes – alongside the spells to give the snow a mysterious, enchanted blue look. The whole country would look like a fairy tale, something even common folks could appreciate.

While there were many venues prepared in advance for the holiday, the one which interested Katarina and everyone else was the venue prepared in front of the castle at the capital, it - like many others was under the open sky, decorated with hundreds of magical lights creating a special atmosphere, a very natural romantic feel.

Much to the surprise of attendees all over, there was something weird in the very middle of the venue, something referred to “ice rink”, whatever that meant. The inclusion of that surprised pretty much everyone, apart from the few select people – Katarina was not among them.

“Woah, look Da Vinci-chan! Is there going to be ice skating? Oooh, I want to give it a try!” Katarina would point over the carefully decorated ice rink, it even had magical lights under the ice, so it was easy to see what was going on once it got late. 

“Hm, it does look amazing, doesn’t it, Katarina?” Da Vinci would muse, taking in the sights “You know, I am a fan of ice skating myself, I actually included the needed skill set into a pet project of mine, from my previous life. But to be honest, this rink is a little bit too much over the top for my tastes. But it would be a great place for something romantic.”

“Something romantic? What do you mean, Da Vinci-chan?” Katarina asked, not really seeing it. What was so romantic about it? 

“Well, think how it would look during the night. Imagine standing on the ice with a person you love, after performing a beautiful dance together – as people around you cheer to their heart's content. You look at your partner, their face illuminated by the soft lighting as they say “I love you.” and they mean it with all their heart. I can only think about a handful of things which would be more romantic than that, in my opinion.” Da Vinci concluded with a smug smile “Then again I am a genius, my opinion might as well be straight facts. This easily makes the top five.”

“Pfff, of course, Da Vinci-chan… let’s go grab a pair of hot buns! I’m getting kind of hungry.” Katarina would focus on the food at the moment, she would make fun of Da Vinci’s remark, but didn’t want to get pinched on the cheek. Da Vinci-chan was pretty ruthless when it came to dispensing slapstick punishments. 

* * *

As the day would go on, so would the festival - the music would play throughout the whole day and as such, people would dance and greet each other throughout the whole day. She would start her birthday adventures by seeking out Geordo, to gift him the first dance of hers for the day - he was her fiance after all.

The third prince would actually appreciate the gesture with a surprisingly happy smile, not the kind he would usually have on his face. He in general was in better mood, since she dropped being so on guard with him, trying to wiggle her way out of their engagement. Now, she was still not sure if she could say she was in love with him, but she was willing to give him a chance.

Chiyome said it so herself, after all… her destiny was not written for her and she could just be herself… as such, if they would end up falling in love, that could be cool. To be a princess was a dream come true for many girls her age, even if she already was made to feel like a princess - especially in how much work she had to do. 

“You look absolutely stunning today, Katarina.” Geordo smiled, as they would be dancing - he was leading with immaculate precision and Katarina would follow, sadly she couldn’t do the men’s part with him. “Also I must say, I am pleasantly surprised that you stopped spouting nonsense about breaking off the engagement every time we meet.” 

“Y-yeah… sorry about it, Geordo.” she would blush giving a weak smile “Chiyome smacked some sense into me about… the way I look at things. B-but you know, if you still manage to find someone you like over me, just say so.”

Geordo would just sigh “Well, I will have to say my thanks to Chiyome. However, it is still perfectly clear to me what you don’t understand.”

Katarina would tilt her head, before getting distracted, overlooking how Geordo was moving “Oh, this part is difficult… how do you do it?”

“Why are you learning the man’s part anyway? Everyone else should be proficient at it already.” Geordo asked, honestly curious - he knew for sure every single of his female rivals would know it at least on a decent level by now. 

“I want to invite mother for a dance and completely demolish dad as a payback for a thing.” Katarina would say honestly “He’s a great dancer, but I am confident he can be beat.”

“...” Geordo would look at her, before allowing himself to laugh “Never change, Katarina. Please. No matter how events turn out. Still, I suppose I should stop hogging your time.”

With those words, he would kiss her on the cheek before letting others take his place.

* * *

The next dance was Sophia, as she did ask her before everyone else. Katarina would feel a smug smile creep on her face, as she would gently take Sophia and would start leading - mimicking Geordo, as his movements were fresh on her memory.

Sophia would keep a steady blush, as Katarina was doing so - it was a pretty aggressive, fast paced set of movements which she of course, could handle - but it was somewhat intimate in a way. There was a reason Geordo used it on Katarina after all. 

“I never knew you were so good at leading, Katarina.” Sophia would admit, now of course - she figured she was getting some secret training from Chiyome, who was probably the most agile person in the whole world, but still.

“Oh, thank you Sophia! I didn’t know you also knew how to lead, until you asked me for a dance… why did you learn that, anyway?” Katarina asked, curiously “My reason for learning was getting back at dad, but don’t you usually dance with Nicol?”

“A-aah… well, you know I was just…. it was to perform in a play, it was based on a book I liked so they needed a lead actress who could um… dance like that.” Sophia would come up with a flimsiest of excuses on the go, as if she was going to be performing anywhere.

“Really?! Oh my, I’ll look forward to seeing you perform again some time!” Katarina said excitedly “You must have been absolutely enchanting!”

Sophia would just stare at Katarina, not even sure anymore. The longer she was familiar with the oldest of Claes children, the more she suspected all of the romance writers in the kingdom just straight up plagiarized her every step of the way. 

“Of course. I’ll make sure you’ll have the front row tickets, Katarina.” Sophia smiled happily, it was a long shot - but it still was a sound plan.

They would dance for a little while after that, before Katarina would switch up her dancing partner from Sophia to Nicol. She wanted to go straight to Maria, but she thought it would be nice to stick to a boy/girl pattern.

As always, he would be relatively silent - however not letting his performance be anything less than perfect. 

“Say, Nicol… did you teach Sophia how to dance?” Katarina asked, having received a nod of confirmation she asked “That’s so sweet of you… but tell me, did she ever perform anywhere.”

The silence would be deafening, even for Nicol. Finally, he would say “I think she mentioned something like that, I’m afraid the details elude me.”

“Ah, I see. That’s so cool~” Katarina said, just wondering why Sophia really learned how to dance… was it to dance with her? How curious. “Well, let’s enjoy ourselves.”

* * *

The next in line would of course be Maria, as she did ask specifically for a dance, in advance. Katarina still would probably seek out Alan and Mary to dance with them, but Maria had dibs in advance. Katarina would immediately take charge of the dance, once again with a grin.

The only issue was, the dress of hers - it was gorgeous and Maria looked stunning in it, but it was on a more… risque side of things, as Maria didn’t need to look as conservative as noble girls. There were several cuts showing skin in different places, nothing too outrageous and obviously the dress was magically insulated so the girl wouldn’t freeze in such an outfit.

But the riskier nature of the dress wasn’t the issue, the issue was that the way Katarina held hands when leading would just so perfectly align with those cuts, that Katarina ended up touching Maria rather intimately. As such, Katarina would not blame the girl for having the face as red as one of Katarina’s tomatoes.

“You have a very gentle touch, Lady Katarina.” Maria would manage to say, as Katarinas hand would slide down her side.

“O-oh, sorry… I hope it’s not too uncomfortable.” Katarina would blush herself, as they would dance “I’ll have to ask mother what she was thinking…”

“O-oh, please don’t! I love the dress, I really do. This is just a bonus.” Maria said, hurriedly. 

‘Well… if you say so.” Katarina said, slightly confused - but they would still dance to their heart's content. 

* * *

After Maria, Katarina would dance with Alan and Mary, both had much more simple, platonic dances. In Alan’s case it was because he was just busy playing with the rest of the musical cast, so he had not as much time as he would fish and in Mary’s case… she was still struggling to learn how to dance, as such - Katarina would lead and they would have a very slow, gentle dance. After that, Katarina would look for Keith, it was time to dance with her family!

“So you danced with almost everyone else already, sis.” Keith said as they would begin “I must say, your grace improved significantly since last time we had a chance to dance.”

“Mmm, thank you, Keith! I was training hard for this, you are still better than me tho.” katarina complained, she felt like Keith really had the men’s part of the dance nailed down, better than anyone else, really.

He would smile at the honest compliment, as they would dance “Say, you should go and find Chiyome after, I heard she wanted a dance too.”

‘Of course! Everyone gets a dance, that’s only fair!” Katarina giggled, thinking “You know, it's nice how private this event is, despite there being so many people. I suppose it's hard to keep eyes on someone, when there’s just so many faces.”

“I think that was the idea behind it, yes.” Keith would admit - he was tempted to test Katarina’s theory on privacy, by picking up the pace but decided against it. “But don’t jinx it, would you?”

“Pffff… actually wait, no, fair enough. Sorry I said anything.” Katarina said, realising she would jinx it otherwise.

From there on, they would just enjoy each other's company, before Katarina would go on the lookout for Chiyome. It was getting rather late by this point, so she had no time to waste!

* * *

She would find her sister checking a few sets of ice skates, which all looked relatively identical. Upon seeing Katarina, the young kunoichi would wave her closer and smile.

“Here you are, I was wondering when you are going to show up. You do know we are performing today, right? You will be the star of the show, sister.” Chiyome smiled, just as Katarina’s face would twitch.

She was not told that. She was not told that at all! Disaster! Impossible! Did Keith know about this?!

“W-what?!”

It took some serious convincing and bargaining from Chiyome to make sure Katarina would not wiggle her way out from performing with her today, this was the one time it mattered – so she pulled the age old vase trick. Katarina would pout so hard when she did that, mumbling something about buying a replacement at this point. Ah well, no good thing lasted forever – she supposed it was time to look for a new bargaining chip.

“Come on, it's not gonna be that hard… let me explain the routine we will be doing to you. It’s just a fancy dance.” Chiyome would go into details, it was not a small routine at all, but she was confident they would smash it with flying colors.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the venue in front of the castle, someone sneaked into the crowd, abusing the fact there were a lot of people there already. It was none other than Da Vinci Lily, she really wanted to try and get a shot at communicating with lady Claes, if possible and if not – stuffing herself full. There was of course, food for free all around the city, but it wasn’t as good as food here and she was ravenous.

Being a relatively powerless nobody in a bad situation sucked pretty badly, even for someone who was a copy of a perfect genius. If she tried to show off too much, questions would follow and problems wouldn’t be that far away, after all. Problems which could spell “dead end” for her.

It took a little bit of finesse however, to dodge everyone she thought might be a servant, she wasn’t sure if they would be able to see her, without an active connection to a master – but just in case, she wouldn’t risk it any further. Get in, get food, eat until you were full and attempt contact if it was safe. Nothing else.

Well, okay – the show which was going to be in the evening did interest her, quite a lot actually. She realised pretty fast it would be an ice skating show, a sport she had a special fondness too.

“Well, surely it wouldn’t hurt to watch a little bit…” was her reasoning, maybe she would learn something useful. She would just sneak out after the performance.

* * *

By the time Katarina and Chiyome were ready to perform, it would turn to late evening. The announcement would be made half an hour in advance, to get all the attendees gathered around the ice rink, in preparation for the show. The anticipation in the air was palpable, a lot of people wondered about the seemingly random iced area in the middle of the venue, after all.

“Please keep close attention, but stay away from the rink” The announcer said “The show will be accompanied by the musical composition performed by the fourth prince and the royal musical staff.” That would get some whispers going. The whispers then would only grow stronger as Katarina and Chiyome would slide across the rink, gracefully introducing each other to the gathered crowd.

After the introductions, they would slowly make a pace around the ice rink, while both would of course put their trust into the Royal family to not mess up their implementation – it was a good idea to check the ice. The people would murmur something to each other, as they would watch them converge on the middle of the rink, taking each other's hands and looking over one another.

“Well, let us begin, sister.” Chiyome smiled, she was looking forward to this.

“Y-yes, let's start. Please cover for me, sister.” Katarina said sheepishly, she was still rather nervous at the sudden situation she found herself in. Still, hopefully it would impress everyone watching. Having gotten her courage in check, Katarina would motion for Alan to begin before standing back to back with Chiyome.

Before the music starts, they shift their balance to their right skate, lifting their left skates and pushing the toe picks against the ice, to serve as an anchor. The moment the music starts playing, they push themselves forward, changing the balance from their right skate to the left – doing a turnaround to face each other. Katarina smiles at Chiyome, as she does another turn this way – lifting her left leg afterwards and making herself fall towards her sister, for her to catch her mid fall. Chiyome catches her without any issues, the motion from the fall sending her backwards as she would do a turn for them both – dragging Katarina along and upwards – letting her get back into motion with a slightly different bracket turn.

Katarina would then let the leftover momentum from Chiyome’s lift carry her forward, as she would bend her left leg to face the direction she was moving in, skating only on her right – looking Chiyome right in the eyes all this time. At this point they were moving at an incredible speed, so they would take careful consideration of the rink size before Katarina would initiate a spin around Chiyome, followed by a sequence of combined camel spins which would culminate in Chiyome lifting Katarina from ice, into something resembling a bridal carry – before lifting her further up so Katarina could use all of the motion shared between them to do a spin around Chiyome’s neck – showing off the hard work of her agility training. Having done the full circle successfully Katarina once again landed on ice, as the crowd started cheering.

To be honest, from that point on – the cheering doesn’t stop and the only thing louder is the music, Alan is playing to his perfection, while observing the dance going on in front of him. It is enchanting, they move as a unit – in unison, perfectly aware of each other’s move. It was difficult to even say it was Katarina participating in this, as she usually would be a rather clumsy person. He supposed it was just another time he would have to eat crows, in regards to her ability to surprise EVERYONE.

Meanwhile as the crowd was going insane, both girls would start moving further along the edges of the rink in tandem, showing movements trained to precision – mimicking each other as they would showcase every hard earned trick – from the Choctaw to the quadruple catch-foot, to a set of complicated maneuvers which involved using one another as an anchor. Chiyome would not be shy about lifting Katarina as they moved, sometimes to show off their graceful movement, sometimes to salvage the little mistakes Katarina was still used to making. She never performed in public, after all - just their private training which Chiyome planned specifically for this moment.

The part of the crowd would start murmuring, that was not the touches one would usually associate with just a friendly sisterly dance, at least when it would come to traditional dancing, this was sure to start even more rumors. Alan on his part would begin picking up the pace of the performance, while he had no idea how the ice dancing was structured, he had a solid idea of a flow to a performance – and it was time for a grand finale.

As the music would pick up the pace, so would they. Their touches became more intimate and much more often occurring, as the pace of their movement would go way up – for the next minute or so they touch each other throughout, Katarina managing to do another spin around Chiyome as if she was a moving pole, as they would culminate to another camel like spin.

From that point, their routine turns something similar to a more traditional dance one would see at the ball, just seemingly hundreds of times more intimate and graceful, at ten times the speed. It would go on and on for what seemed like forever, despite only taking up a couple of minutes at most. As their routine was getting to its end, Chiyome would proudly lift Katarina holding her for everyone to see as they would slowly circle towards the middle of the rink, where they both would spin down to their knees into a close hug. The show was over, the only thing they heard was ovations from the observers – as the two girls would stand up and look at each other.

Chiyome would smile, she was so proud of Katarina for having managed all of that in public on her first try. She would consider her words for a second, before going with her heart.

[“I love you.”](https://i.imgur.com/fZS5PUC.jpg) was the words Chiyom would utter, she would say them many times to her before, they never really reached where they were meant to. She shared the same plight as Keith, after all.

“I love you too, sis.” Katarina would give her the same old charming smile, of course – they haven’t reached her heart this time either. “Well, let’s get back onto solid ground, we’re hogging the rink.”

They would gracefully head back towards the exit from the rink, while Katarina was having a “to be, or not to be moment” except, it was “to panic, or not to panic” moment. After a short, brief and sweet meeting of her inner council the vote was overwhelmingly “not to panic”. Surely she meant like sisters, there was absolutely positively no way she could mean it any other way.

Still, she would reach out to her mental link to Asclepius, to ask him as a third party.

“Doctor, does Chi...?” Katarina wanted to ask a nice, simple question about Chiyome, but received an answer before she finished.

“In whatever way you think she might like you, the answer is yes, you dense idiot of a Master.” was the nice and simple reply from the good doctor, in the most deadpan tone imaginable

“Oh. Thanks.” Katarina replied, as if nothing happened. Okay, it was time to overrule her mental council’s decision and start panicking. Hard.

* * *

As the festival was a rather crowded place it was hard to have a full blown panic attack inside one’s head without raising any suspicion - as such Katarina just smiled and exchanged pleasantries as she would vacate herself to a more secluded spot, away from the crowd. Having gotten her alone time, she would analyze every word of affection Chiyome ever spoke to her. A lot of them started to make a hell of a lot more sense, now looking at them in a slightly different light.

The worst part was the shameful realization how bloody stupid she had to be to miss all of those, every single time up until now. Even now, she only understood because of what Da Vinci said earlier! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Katarina would berate herself, before making a decision - she was going to speak with Chiyome, right now! 

Katarina would turn around and head back to the venue, in hopes of catching Chiyome as soon as possible. As she would turn the corner, she would cross paths with what she initially thought was Da Vinci, before she realised the girl in front of her was too short. 

Lily, for her part, would just stare in shock as her escape led her into the eyes of the one person she didn’t want to be seen by. This was the worst case scenario! She would attempt to get past Katarina, without uttering a word but would feel a sharp burst of pain as something would shoot through her body, leaving a hefty would in her stomach. Lily fell to the ground, whimpering in pain as she would try to understand what happened.

The case was the same for Katarina, of course - she was the one who just shot the Ghandr spell at Lily, purely out of panic and adrenaline of course - the ancient curse was one of the few spells Katarina learned since unlocking the potential of her magical circuits, her best shot would have the same killing power of a small calibre pistol. Honestly, she probably (Most definetely) overreacted and should not have attacked a potential servant like that - still, Katarina would immediately call for Chiyome to come to her, as she would aim at Lily again, just in case.

“P-please, d-don’t kill me! I beg you!” Lily managed to half whisper, without choking up as she would cover her face with her hands. She didn’t want to die, after all.

“Katarina!” Chiyome would appear between Katarina and downed Lily, sword in hand - she was ready to thrust it right into the girl on the ground, before she recognized the face. She would stand there, looking at the trembling girl, who really had no right to exist in the form she did. Okay, they would have to keep her alive just to see what was going on.

“I-i didn’t mean to… shoot her… we should…” Katarina would just now began to understand what she just did and how potentially dangerous it was, her knees would shake a bit as she made connections that, someone with Da Vinci’s face could potentially be rather dangerous. 

“Katarina, relax. You.” Chiyome spoke up, first to Katarina, then to Lily still on the ground. Having gotten her attention, Chiyome continued “You are coming with us. You will not run, you will not speak, you will obey every command I will give you, or I will kill you on the spot. Do. You. Understand?”

The vigorous shaking would confirm, she did in fact understand what was being asked of her. 

“Good. Now stand up. Move.” Chiyome said, before having to help Lily stand up and then pushing her into a direction away from the guests - she noted the wound in her stomach, which was bleeding and also another… detail.

“Did you seriously… ” Chiyome didn’t even understand how Katarina could scare her to that extent, but couldn’t really think of anything to say about it but “You are disgusting”.

Chiyome would manage to relocate both girls a little bit away, before Asclepius showed up - appropriate bindings and bandages in hand. Both would be applied - as well as several lesser runes, to make sure the bindings would hold. 

“Katarina, before we head home - I just want to say, this was reckless and stupid, even for you.” Chiyome would scold her right on the spot, as Asclepius would secure their newfound prisoner. “She could have killed you! Have you considered how everyone would react if you were to get hurt?”

“I-I’m sorry….” Katarina would mutter “I panicked, okay? I wanted to tell you something and then she passed by and… and… ”

Katarina would remember what she wanted to tell Chiyome, before this event took the wind out of her sails.

“What was so important you wanted to tell me, what you forgot your brain somewhere, sis?” Chiyome asked, clearly irritated.

Katarina would answer by hugging her closely and kissing her, not in a particularly lewd way, or anything - but clearly more than a sister.

“I… I think I might love you too.” Katarina said, looking at Chi, who was just staring with her mouth open, in shock.

And like that, Katarina Claes was forgiven for her stupidity. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several notes for this chapter:
> 
> 1) Sadly, I couldn't find it in myself to rewrite bits of this chapter any further, as such I feel the quality of this particualr chapter is lower when usual, for which I am sorry - but again, had about enough of rewriting it. This is good enough for me.
> 
> 2) I attempted to base their dance on this performance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSQofAkprrs - sadly, I did not do it justice. This chapter is the first one on my list, in the case I ever decide to rewrite the story partially, as well - it could be much more, if my patience with it didn't run out. This chapter been in the works for daaays.
> 
> 3) The first official pairing of the story is up, but Chi knows better then to go easy on her competition. Just because she won the battle, doesnt mean she won the war! She's aware of a possibility of harem ending, from Katarina telling her about teh game, so if its gonna be a harem - she is gonna be in the lead, so to speak.
> 
> 4) In case you missed it - I am back with an illustration for this chapter! https://i.imgur.com/fZS5PUC.jpg


	14. Chapter 12 - Comes the Inquisition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katarina dwells deeper into the issues with Da Vinci Lily, after having gone through some personal challenges.

Having tied Lily down tight, Asclepius would inform Katarina she should return to the party, while Chiyome would have to head out early with him - as her dress now had spots of blood on it, something they couldn’t remove or hide safely.

“Well, we must be off now – she needs further treatment as soon as possible. We will talk later, Master.” Asclepius would then head out with Chiyome posthaste, leaving Katarina to the party. Thankfully, she would soon be joined by the real Da Vinci in her spirit form, to serve as a bodyguard.

The festival itself would go on for a few more hours, but thankfully nothing else of note happened. Soon Katarina would find herself in the family carriage alongside everyone – from there she would tell them what happened and why Chiyome had to leave early.

“Of course you would be reckless enough to do something stupid like that.” Miri would conclude, with an exasperated sigh, her daughter would be the death of her “I don’t even need to tell you how stupid that was, yes?”

“No, I’ve been told, a couple of times at this point.” Katarina would say, trying to look as small as possible in her seat, she really hated this part – being scolded never really got easier, even if it didn’t happen as often as it was in the past.

“Okay. Well, in that case I will not go into details myself, but there is one thing which I am really, rather curious about.” Miri would look at Keith and Luigi, before turning to face Katarina “Is that Chiyome’s lipstick on your lips, dear?”

Kataarina would open her mouth, she felt her cheeks warm up as she tried to make audible noises, perhaps even words – failing spectacularly at it, obviously.

“Right. Well, I suppose that’s fine as long as you don’t get too close, too fast.” Miri said, as Keith would give Katarina a consoling pat on the back. Luigi on his end would just barely manage to stiffen his desire to laugh, she really was just too adorable for this world. “You will have to tell Geordo, however. Probably the rest of your friends, too.”

“Tell and listen, Katarina. Tell and listen.” Luigi would add, perfectly aware everyone else would be forced to act under the circumstances “Just to make sure the situation doesn’t get out of control. Isn’t that right, Keith?”

“W-wha? Ah… y-yeah, that’s right, father.” Keith would dart his eyes between his parents, who looked way too smug for comfort. They knew, didn’t they.

“Keith.” Both of them would gaze at him, the awkward silence would follow as Katarina was slightly confused at what was going on.

“F-fine. Katarina… there is something really important I have to tell you, too.”

* * *

“Everyone?! You mean, everyone?!” Katarina would have an explosive reaction, after Keith finished explaining to her the whole situation, he felt that she could hurt someone if she wasn’t aware of it all going forward and, at the end of the day they were all friends.

“Yes, I believe that is what I said, sister.” Keith said, giving her a patient smile. Well, it was not going how he would hope the reveal would happen, but nonetheless it was progress. “Well, maybe Alan hasn't realized it himself yet, but that’s as I said, all on Mary.”

“So like… even say, Maria? Sophia? Nicol?” Katarina was trying to come up with any way in her head to justify this as just some elaborate prank everyone decided to pull on her, as some sort of cruel joke. No - she had to accept reality… they would never do something so mean spirited and Keith would not play with her emotions like that, no matter what.

“Yes. As I just said. Facts won’t change no matter how many times you ask.” Keith said - they had to wrap up as they had already begun pulling to the Claes estate “As such, I will talk with Chiyome about it and you… try to let everyone else explain themselves to you? Figure out if you would like to give them a chance to court you as well, or if you so choose a way to turn them away, softly.”

“I’ll… yeah, they deserve at least that much.” Katarina would agree, just letting out a tired sigh “Honestly, what have I done to deserve so much love… OW! That hurts!”

She would immediately find herself on the receiving end of the old triple forehead flick, for saying something as stupid like that. As Katarina would be rubbing her forehead, the carriage stopped.

They would be met by both Anne and Cecilia, who would inform Katarina she was expected urgently in her office, they would not say anything apart from that – choosing instead to tend to everyone else, while Katarina would head to meet up with everyone in her office. This was going to be one of those sleepless nights.

* * *

Having arrived into her office, Katarina would look around – noticing everyone was present, including Teach, who would pale a little bit as Da Vinci showed up just behind Katarina, sporting her trademark smile which meant “someone is about to perish”.

“Please kill him later, Da Vinci-chan, I’m tired and want to get this out of the way before morning if possible.” Katarian said, walking over to her table and crushing into her comfy chair. She was rather spent by all of the events, good and bad.

“Or how about you don’t kill me at all, Da Vinci-chan – that would be most unjust of you to cut down a lad in his prime!” Blackbeard would quip “Isn’t that right… hm. Now that ChiChi is a taken unit, ugh… oi, Master – can you summon a cute servant for me to flirt with next?”

“Please go die in a corner.” Both Chiyome and Da Vinci told Teach, as Katarina blushed. Obviously, such important information would spread quickly among her faithful crew of servants… at least they didn’t seem to mind.

“Everyone… please focus on matters at hand.” Katarina would plead, looking at Asclepius “Doc, that girl is alright, I take it?”

“Yes, I managed to treat her before further complications. That gandr was so powerful it almost killed her on the spot, so she should consider herself fortunate to be alive.” Asclepius would muse “And yes, before you ask Da Vinci, my rudimentary examination proves she is in fact your backup body, however I can’ tell if you two share a timeline.”

“Thank you.” Da Vinci would nod, pondering “To be honest, the whole situation with timelines is confusing even a genius like me. Could you recite everything again in detail, Katarina?”

“Yeah. So, the way it went…” Katarina would begin, telling them exactly how everything happened, from her point of view. She would tell how she would head out to look for Chiyome and would run into someone who was so uncanny looking like Da Vinci, she had to be a heroic spirit or something. She told about the sour look on her face, as if she didn’t want to be seen at all and then how she would move in Katarina’s direction.

Obviously, Lily wanted to just rush past Katarina – but Katarina had no way of knowing that, not at the time at least. From her point of view, she was being rushed by an unknown, potentially very dangerous person or heroic spirit. Anyone would reasonably fear for their life at that point, so she took a shot.

After hearing all of that, Chiyome would shake her head and speak up “That… actually makes an awful lot of sense, then. I’m sorry for scolding you on being reckless, that was perfectly justified, sis.”

That felt pretty bad, she initially assumed Katarina simply acted without thinking as she often did, but she perceived herself in danger and acted accordingly. In fact, if anything this was Chiyome’s fault for letting her have some alone time and not keeping a closer eye on her. A mistake she would not repeat.

“T-thanks. Now that I explained it through, I don’t feel as bad about having shot her, but seeing how she reacted…” Katarina would focus on her memories a little bit more “I think she might have tried to run away, instead of attacking me. It’s just, it would have helped if she said something first.”

“Her attempting to escape seems reasonable, as she appears to be weak enough where you would win even hand to hand combat, Master” Asclepius spoke up “I’ve heard of weak servants before, but this is another level altogether. Finally something interesting to study, really.”

“Are you planning to keep her around?! We should just get the information we need and get rid of her!” Chiyome would look at Asclepius, as she felt everyone focus their gazes on her “What? She’s a wild card, obviously dangerous – no matter how strong she is. If she is half as smart as Da Vinci…”

“Could you please not suggest killing her in front of me?” Da Vinci would tilt her head “I know I am the most gracious and patient person in the whole world, but that’s a little bit over the top Chiyome, don’t you think?”

“She… is not you if that’s what concerns you.” Chiyome would say, looking at Da Vinci “That is a fact. You’ll understand when you see her. She’s in the basement, would you like to go and take a look?”

“Yes, please.” Da Vinci would choose not to argue with Chiyome so they would leave them for a moment.

“Oi, Master. Chiyome is going all yandere for you, I think. Not sure if there is anything else to it, but ugh, maybe hold her horses a little bit before she actually kills someone.” Blackbeard said to Katarina the second Chiyome was out of the ear shot.

“Ah… I will try not to disappoint.” Katarina would reply, just trying to wrap her head around what he meant. Did she want to get rid of the girl purely because she was pretty and looked about the same age as Katarina? Well… it wasn’t out of the question, but she hoped that wasn’t the case. Either way, the comment made her blush.

It would take ten or so minutes for Da Vinci and Chiyome to return, Da Vinci did not look particularly happy, but she wasn’t mad. So that could be considered a win. 

“Well, where to start… it’s complicated.” Da Vinci would sit back down on the sofa, crossing her arms. “She is indeed the most unusual case of a summoning system I have ever seen, I can see why Asclepius is so excited. She appears to be so weak she can’t even suppress the basic urges most servants never have to worry about.”

“Like her bladder, evidently.” Chiyome would note, leaning against the wall “But you mentioned something else down there, what was that about?”

“Well, what I figured out was simple, she is not MY replacement. Her body, at least according to what I managed to gleam from her spirit origin – differs in design from the body I left to serve as my replacement.” Da Vinci said, looking at everyone one by one “So in layman’s terms – she is my spare body, but made by a different Da Vinci, from yet another timeline. Did I mention this is doing my head in?”

“So then, there is no problem if we get rid of her?” Chiyome asked, looking serious despite another set of glares “What? You just said yourself she isn’t you, so I stand even more correct than before.”

“Her presence here means something is really wrong, Chiyome. That body of mine, had only one purpose – to keep Ritsuka and Mash safe. It wasn’t meant to last long and it wasn’t meant to be summoned at all. Also it doesn’t matter if she’s mine, I still don’t want you to hurt her.” Da Vinci would reply, she knew this Chiyome went through some great personal growth, but oh boy was she so much more cutthroat.

“Something happened in yet another timeline. You do bring a good point, since if she was from what we assume is our shared timeline” Blackbeard would mutter “she would be of your design… so we are dealing with at least three hypothetical timelines now. Daaaymn, this is starting to look like some epic scale isekai fantasy right here.”

“Well, I guess we can interrogate her and then decide what to do with her.” Chiyome would say “But I don’t trust her at all, she obviously was playing at something – otherwise she would contact us long ago, it’s not like we don’t get tons of correspondence every day. So if you ask me, I propose we test those new tools…”

“Denied.” Asclepius would answer immediately.

“Absolutely not.” Said Blackbeard, knowing full well what she meant. 

“If you mean using the torture tools, absolutely out of the question.” Da Vinci said, along with everyone else.

“W-wait, what?! Where did that come from? I absolutely forbid anything like that!” Katarina said aghast having now understood what Blackbeard meant - yes, Chiyome clearly was acting a bit irrationally “Sis, I’m not planning on running away with her or anything, please don’t make her life miserable just because she’s pretty.”

Chiyome would blush, as she would fidget under the intense look Katarina was giving her “W-well, alright… sorry, I won’t use those fancy tools…”

“Why do we even have those?” Katarina would ask, no one told her they had tools for torture anywhere in the house, she felt wildly uncomfortable with that idea.

“I said using the tools is out of the question.” Da Vinci would suddenly speak up to Chiyome “But just putting them in clear sight should be alright, actually. There is a theory I wish to test and if I’m right we will know the cause of this mess for sure.”

‘Hello? Why do we have those?” Katarina would pout, they were clearly ignoring her on purpose.

“Just don’t overdo it.” Asclepius chimed in “If you give her a heart attack I'll hold you accountable.”

* * *

Having figured out what to do, everyone would move into the basement where Lily was tied up to one of the supports, Katarina would note she was also blindfolded, ear-muffed and gagged, this did not look comfortable. In fact, looked like a major overkill – she really should set up some ground rules on how gentle everyone should be. She also realized something else…

“Shouldn’t you have offered her a change of clothing, at least?!” Katarina would ask, that was just plain mean.

“Um… honestly, that wasn’t the most pressing of the issues at the time.” Chiyome mentioned, as she would put all the scary looking instruments in plain view “Besides, this works to our advantage in this case, she could have another unfortunate incident soon.”

“You scare me sometimes, ChiChi.” Katarina said, scratching her head a little bit “But… okay. You make a fair point, even if I would like you not to be making it.”

Having said that, Katarina would join everyone else behind a wine shelf which was separating the basement area into two smaller sections, letting Chiyome lead the interrogation.

Chiyome would finish her preparations and would take the ear-muffs and the blindfold off, allowing Lily to adjust to her environment. She was awake, that was a good start – she also appeared to have been absolutely terrified even prior to seeing all the lovely tools placed by Chiyome, which she would see soon enough – her face turning pale.

“Hello. So, it’s about time for us to have a little chat.” Chiyome would keep a deeper tone to her voice, as she looked at Lily, slowly moving her hand to her face and adjusting it slightly so she would look her in the eyes, for the first time in what felt like forever - Chiyome removed her blindfold, to reveal her much more demonic in appearance snake eye. “You know who I am, right? Good, good.”

Chiyome would then walk up to pick up a small knife, playing around with it a fair bit.

“Now, let me set up some ground rules for our chat. You do not talk unless I ask you something. You do not scream. You do not beg. You do not lie. If you do not know something, you better give your best idea as an answer. Break any of those rules and… well, maybe I’ll recall something from Paraiso’s handbook.”

Lily didn’t know what kind of servant this Chiyome was, however her manifestation as Assassin of Paraiso was a scary enough thought to terrify her to no end. 

“Well, let us begin.” Chiyome would take out the piece of cloth which was used as a gag, letting Lily adjust for a second. “Now, let’s start from the beginning…”

Chiyome would then lead the interrogation for about three hours, keeping Lily on the edge but not pushing her too much – she just had to play with all of the different tools in plain sight and the girl would sing like a bird. At the very least Chiyome could confirm it wasn’t her Da Vinci Lily, this one was just... pathetic. She sounded like Katarina used to at times, just a hundred times worse. Made her sick. She had to wrap it up.

“So you want me to believe you took a one in however low that chance was and just… appeared somewhere here, in the middle of nowhere?” Chiyome would ask, once the story was concluded “Tsk, tsk – didn’t I warn you against lying?”

“P-please, t-that is the truth, I swear!” she sure did sound desperate enough to make them believe she was speaking the truth. “I had to do it just to save everyone!”

“Sounds to me like an excuse” Chiyome said – her tone completely different, there was no point in acting anymore. “You can come out, everyone.”

Lily would look as everyone else would come out from behind the shelf, including her old self and the girl who shot her back then - Katarina. Did they hear all of that?

“Looks like you were right, Da Vinci. What a pain in the...” Chiyome said, sitting down. “If you would do the honors, seeing as we don’t have Holmes on hand.”

“Pfff, where to even begin with this mess.” Da Vinci would ruffle her hair a bit, looking at a tiny version of herself. Key word, version - not a final version, either. “You know what’s wrong with you, little me… don’t you?”

“W-well, I’m currently tied down after being interrogated under the threat of grizzly violence, someone shot me through my stomach earlier, my whole body hurts and I really need a change of clothing…” Lily would begin, trying to sound composed through the tears, she would then force a rather unnatural smile “No, no, actually thinking about it - I am all peachy, thank you for asking.”

“You know what I meant. You’re a prototype, aren’t you.” Da Vinci was speaking in her usual soft manner, unphased by Lily’s attempt to diverge from the topic. “And something is wrong with you, because the body is not fit to actually have a living occupant.”

“How can you be… so… calm about this. You’re the one who made me this way, you old hag!!!” that seemed to have done the trick, as Lily would burst into even more so hysterical tears “YES! I’m just a prototype! Are you satisfied?! Do you want to rub it further into my nose, as if that’s going to solve anything?!”

“I wasn’t the one who made you, so save your insults. I know that, because in my timeline I went past the prototyping stage.” Da Vinci would interrupt her smaller self once again “I guess even I can’t be flawless everywhere, what a shame.”

“Please don’t make her feel even worse.” Katarina would look at Da Vinci. From everything said so far, everything she understood – she could relate to the girl in front of her, a little bit too much, even. 

“My apologies.” Da Vinci said, before letting out a sigh shaking her head “So, I will assume you are the version prior to the finished product. As such, there is a chance you are hard wired to follow a logic loop - can you please tell me how it’s set up, if it is the case?”

Lily would just stare into the ground, not sure if there was a point in answering. Well, she supposed they still could torture it out of her, so it was easier to tell.

“I… well, I have… every thought or action gets processed through the list of four objectives. If even one of them doesn’t align to the thought in question, I feel compelled to change my approach, if I try to fight - it gets pretty nasty.” Lily would try to focus on her own thinking process, it was hard enough to do that normally, let alone under such stress. “Objective one is to protect Mash and Ritsuka. Objective two is to preserve myself and my beauty. Objective three is to improve myself as much as I can. Objective four is to smile as much as I can.”

“I see… it's a much weirder set of objectives then necessary. I can only harness a guess why the other me would word them like that… as they all must contradict each other quite harshly.” The older Da Vinci would begin her explanations to those present “Objective one and two should have been merged, so she could protect say herself and Ritsuka, while Mash would have to fend for herself or vice versa. The way it is worded… it would be almost impossible to end up in a situation where the two wouldn’t clash.”

“Ah, I see.” Chiyome suddenly realised what Da Vinci meant “So if she protected them, she would inadvertently always put herself in danger activating number two. However if she did nothing, number one would flare up… she would also need to work hard in any case of events, which would have put a strain on her body… that is indeed a sloppy set of commands.”

“Perhaps it was meant to be optimized further down the line, but the other you simply ran out of time before it was done.” Asclepius would conclude “I doubt it would have been difficult to tweak these settings when it was just a body and there was no need to carefully optimize the commands if there was a change she would manufacture another one.”

Katarina would just look at everyone, just amazed at how inconsiderate all of them were at the moment - it only took something interesting for them to completely miss how Lily was looking down at the floor, completely dejected as if utterly broken. Of course, they were looking for answers - but they didn’t have to discuss this right here - in front of her! 

“Da Vinci… You say it is a back up body, right? But is it actually the same consciousness as her version of you, or is it like um...” Katarina would pause, she couldn’t say - is it like in that 6th Day movie or something “like a replica?”

“Huh? What a peculiar question, but no she is just a replica which had all the necessary memories fed into her to be Da Vinci. At least, in theory unless my other self also didn’t muck that up. I pray there isn’t a timeline or universe where I am that incompetent” Da Vinci said, she felt something wasn’t adding up with Katarina’s question, but what? 

“So, in theory – she is just a victim in all of this and no fault can be attributed to her?” Katarina asked, pointing at Lily. She chose that wording, because that’s what she was starting to feel about the whole situation and she would do what she felt was right.

“Oh… oooh.” older Da Vinci’s finally got what Katarina was leaning at “Yeah, it’s not her fault whatsoever. Even if it was direct conscious transfer, which it is unlikely - her logic trap of a programming would turn her into a different person altogether, by now. So she’s innocent.”

“In that case, I have heard enough. I don’t think she’s dangerous at all. In fact, I think we just added a lot of grief to someone already suffering enough. I’m so sorry.” Katarina said, a few seconds would pass, as she would motion to everyone “Someone take the hint, please.”

Chiyome would be the first, she would walk up to Lily and would carefully cut her bindings. She already felt slightly sour about the whole situation after going through the interrogation, but it was hard to admit - after all she was the one petitioning to get rid of her just earlier. Well, she had her reasons of course - but she wasn’t heartless enough to stick to them in face of what she saw.

“T-thank you…” Lily would try to stop the tears, as she would look herself over. She felt awful, her instinct for self-preservation was relaxing itself slowly. “Can I… can I ask for some dry clothes, please?”

* * *

It would already be morning, as they would gather again in Katarina’s office – Lily finally had a new, dry set of clothing and was sitting in front of a selection of sweets, she had to restore some energy. She was still wildly uncomfortable, of course – between the happenings and the persistent pain in her stomach, she could barely force herself to smile which just amplified the pain.

At least there was some good news for her - Katarina proved herself as a kind person, especially for someone who by all means probably would have been spoiled rotten by now. Everyone else was different degrees of uncomfortable too, but mostly because of the transpired events.

“So what do we do, in that case? Ritsuka and Mash are out there, stranded in the spicy sea of void, surely we have to do something?” Blackbeard asked “Even if it isn’t as simple as yelling Henshin and turning into a dimension hopping truck-kuns ourselves.”

“We just don’t have the level of technology to do anything, I’m afraid. To reach for them, we would need to advance the technology at least several centuries forward and spend copious amounts of money to manufacture the right equipment.” Older Da Vinci said, trying to concentrate on the problem at hand “And I mean it. We would at least need a nuclear reactor to produce some of the needed elements for zero sail and that is a tall order.”

Lily would just pick up her cup of tea and would stare into it, older Da Vinci was telling the truth – it was unlikely they would be able to do anything. They would need far more when a single nuclear reactor to really have a shot at finding them in the Imaginary Number Space. They would have to replicate their own Paper Moon, somehow - pair it with TRISMEGISTUS which they also would have to build from scratch and power it all up with enough energy to facilitate the transfer. That was the dead end of this plan and her greatest cowardice - even having gotten so far here, there was little chance all of that could have been done. 

“Katarina could summon more servants… in theory the likes of Tesla or Edison could help us get what we need. We have the money…” Chiyome suggested, thinking it through “And between Asclepius and Katarina we can nurse everyone back to health no problem.”

“What do you say, Master?” Asclepius would look at Katarina, who herself was looking grim. She would shift in the chair a little bit, he noted – which made sense, after all he suspected she already figured out the biggest problem with providing any help.

“I…” Katarina would begin, looking them all over “The answer is no.”

* * *

Blackbeard and Chiyome would look at her in confusion, while everyone else seemed to not be surprised at all.

“Sis?” Chiyome would ask, unsure of why she would just refuse like that. “Is it…”

“D-don’t get me wrong. It’s not money. It’s not summoning servants… but… this alien god…” Katarina said “If I understand it, if he found out about us… and came after us… would we be able to do anything against it? Even if using all of the knowledge you have about it, ChiChi?”

The silence, bar a few tears falling into tea - was deafening.

“I’ll take that as a no. As such, I’m sorry everyone but… I can’t…” she would stop herself from tearing up herself “To gamble the safety of the whole world… it is not my decision to make. You can be mad at me, if you wish. You can even leave, if you think my decision is incorrect, but the answer is and always will be - no.”

Katarina felt for them all, she really did - obviously those people meant the world for them and she in turn cared for everyone in this room. But it was not her decision to make, in fact - no one single person should ever be allowed to gamble so much for so little. 

“And nothing I could offer, would change your decision, Lady Katarina?” Lily would ask, still looking into her tea. “W-well… I only have myself to offer, really – body and soul.”

She knew it was pointless to ask, but at the very least if she did - her mind would be a little bit more at peace with herself. 

Katarina would look at her, there really wasn’t anything she could say without hurting her in one way or another. However, some answers would clearly hurt her more and she was suspicious Lily could present a grave danger to herself, if she didn’t answer or answered incorrectly.

“Is that you speaking, or your compulsions?” Katarina would ask, she would decide to borrow a page out of Chiyome’s book. She knew she wouldn’t be able to pull her out of the dark place she was in, but she could at least give her a helping hand. 

Lily would look at her, then would back at the tea.

“I… am fairly sure this is me. They are still the closest thing I have to a family… and they deserve so much more. They don’t deserve their happy ending being taken away from them just because of me being... the way I am.” she said, causing Katarina to twitch a little. She wanted to say “a failure” instead, didn’t she. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

Katarina would groan to herself, as she would motion to everyone else to hold their horses, while Lily wasn’t looking.

“In that case, I’ll offer you a compromise.” Katarina declared, as Lily looked at her, hope in her eyes “I will take you up on your offer and in exchange I will… provide means for you to look into options of what could be done. If you could save them in a way, which would not put us all in danger - I would allow that… on one condition.”

“Y-yeah, w-what is the condition?” Lily would ask her voice shaky, as much as she just told herself it was impossible… she did have enough schematics and knowledge engraved into her to build these things, given time and a bottomless checkbook. A one in a billion chance was still a chance, she was here after all. Already an impossibility enough.

“I want you to take out the spoon out of your cup and pluck out your eye. I find eye patches really cute, you see.” Katarina said, picking the easiest and most extreme thing she could think of, something that Lily would absolutely not do if she didn’t mean what she said… and maybe even if she did. It was a cruel thing to ask, considering her compulsion to remain beautiful - but this was the moment for her to prove herself. 

She had faith in her, faith that it wasn't just cowardice born from malign imperfection which moved her – that there was a spark of bravery and friendship deep within her. She just needed to see it herself, first. 

“I… I... I see…” Lily would shiver as her whole body would shake, she was staring at that spoon inside her tea for quite some time now after all. She would put down the cup, reaching for the spoon slowly – her hands would shake harder, as her mind was racing – she had to protect them… but also herself… and her beauty.. but she couldn’t do both. She would finally pick up the spoon, her mind was telling her no. Her body was telling her no. She would panic, instincts telling her to put the spoon away - but in the end she would force her hand, aiming at her left eye. It would only hurt just a bit.

She would miss her eye, of course - she would become hideous. But she was already destined to suffer, she might as well try to make the best out of it for them.

Obviously, the spoon never reached her eye – having been snatched from her by Chiyome mid flight, so the only thing Lily managed to achieve was to hit herself in the nose with her hand, having done a pretty strong swing.

“A-ah!” Lily would look at her hands, she didn’t even realize the spoon was gone quite yet.

“Not so fast there, eyepatches are most definitely MY thing.” Chiyome said, only half joking as she reached for a piece of cotton wool, offering it to Lily “But judging by her bleeding nose, she would have gouged her eye out alright. I say she’s good for it.”

Katarina and everyone else would let out a sigh of relief, especially older Da Vinci, who almost rioted back when Katarina stated the condition “That settled, then.”

“So that was a test… then?” Lily would ask, still shaking from forcing herself to go through that “I… I passed, didn’t I?”

“Yes. You did indeed.” Katarina said, standing up. She would walk up to her and put a hand on her shoulders. “Not only did you pass, but you also proved that your love for them is stronger than the very thing which binds you. I can’t even begin to understand how difficult it is to live, when you have to doubt every single decision and though you have. Yes, you might be a coward due to the reasons out of your control, but you braved on at the moment when it counted.”

Katarina had no idea if she could have been helped on a deeper level, if Asclepius maybe would eventually devise a way to get rid of the logical loops - she knew he would try for sure and she was hoping he would succeed. But right now, the only thing she could do was to reach her hand into the shadows and keep pulling Lily out of said shadows, just like someone did to Katarina.

“So, Lily – do you agree to become my servant on the conditions as they were laid out?” Katarina asked, as she would prick her finger a little bit, to draw blood. She would then etch an outline of her command seals on Lily’s forehead, their bond was almost forged.

“Y-yes.” Lily would nod, it was a bit hard to talk through tears - she really was moved by those words. Having said that she felt the magical energy pour into her. She felt sick for a few seconds, as her body would rebound from its degrading state. She held herself together as much as she could not to throw up all over her new owner. “Thank you, mistress.”

There was an awkward silence. Katarina would tilt her head. “Isn’t it – Master? Also you can just call me Katarina, if you wish.”

“For normal servants, usually yes. Some would choose different names, but since I offered myself all together – body and soul, the appropriate word would be mistress.” Lily stated, she thought that would be pretty obvious.

There was even more awkward silence, as Chiyome would suddenly throw her a death stare again, as she seemed to have picked up on something.

“When you say, body and soul – what do you mean exactly?” Katarina asked, having a suspicion herself. She already could see Blackbeard cracking some outrageous jokes.

“Um… Whatever way you wish to use me, you are free to do so… is that not… is that not what you summon servants for, mistress?” Lily would ask, suddenly feeling way more awkward about the way she worded and meant their contract. “The folk around the capital seem to think you are into women, especially older ones. I thought that made sense with you summoning my older self here…”

There was a beat of silence, where even Teach wouldn't crack an ill timed joke. He still would get punched for thinking it later, but still.

“THEY THINK WHAT OF ME?!” Katarina Claes has never screamed in outrage as hard, while panicking as much as she did then. Wait, did she think she wanted to... bed her?! “AND WHO DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I did end up changing the thng which was plaguing Lily a little bit, so consider that a retcon. Initially, her four set of commands would make her a coward, just straight up. However, after thinking - I decided what she chooses to act cowardly sometimes, because its the path of least resistance. It is painful for her to go against the hard wired functions of her prototype body and the more points out of the four it crosses, the more painful it is. 
> 
> I do realise this is probably a little bit too much of a hurt & comfort content for some people and I apologize, but she is important to the story in her own way and her arc of getting better is something I do wish to write about.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading my story <3


	15. Chapter 13 - Born to the Purple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things slowly starting to take shape, as more and more pieces fall into place - a moment of transition, as the current arc "O Mona, O Bella." is over.

The following few months would bring with them a lot of changes, for everyone. Katarina would find herself buried alive under her paperwork, for which she was thankful – she needed time to think about all that transpired.

There was a lot to unload – for example, her reveal to all of her friends about her new relationship with Chiyome was the most surreal experience she ever lived through, in both of her lives. Including reincarnation.

* * *

“As such, I am sorry if you are disappointed, but this is how it is, everyone. You are free to try and change my mind, however – neither me or Chiyome will hold it against you.” she said, as they were all gathered in the Claes mansion’s guest room, after finishing a fulfilling day’s gardening session. Katarina just finished explaining her feelings and her parents decision to let her sort out the whole mess.

Katarina would look at all of her friends, they all looked… it was a mixed bag, really – Geordo stood out the most, appearing smug like hell. Sophia would have the dreamy look to herself, as if she was imagining something. Maria looked mildly irritated, while Keith, Mary and Nicol had neutral expressions. The only confused one was Alan, who was just trying to figure what the hell was going on.

“Well, it looks like you won that particular bet, Geordo. Bravo, ChiChi… ” Mary would speak up, giving some applause to Chiyome, who was standing by Katarina. “You surely realize this isn’t over, right?”

“You might have won the battle, but the war is far from over.” Geordo would chime in, seemingly pleased “A war in which we all can now participate fairly, now that Katarina actually takes us seriously. I hope.”

Katarina would giggle nervously having been reminded of her romantic ineptitude, were they seriously not going to get mad at her for picking someone else?

“All fair in love and war, hm.” Nicol would say, keeping his part of the discussion short “But accept my congratulations on finding your first love, Katarina.”

“I did say they won’t give up that easily, to both of you.” Keith would note, clearly amused himself. “Also it seems Geordo did win that bet Mary.”

“Wait, are we all seriously competing for her?” Alan would ask, as everyone would give him the look. “R-right. Got it.”

“It was evident Lady Chiyome would beat us to the punch, but we will not give up, especially if you allow us to court you, Lady Katarina.” Maria said with conviction, just thinking about how to proceed from this point onwards.

“Ooooh, a competition for the heart of the heroine, this is so romantic.” Sophia mused gasping “They will write romance novels about this one day, or maybe I should write one about this… ooh, but then I can’t read it.”

“You all still not going to give up? Jeez, fine – I’ll keep on beating you all then.” Chiyome said, crossing her arms… and showing everyone her tongue, in the most wild display of poor manners she ever showed. “So it’s fair game until you are of age, Katarina?”

“Uuugh… y-yes, just as we discussed.” Katarina was going through emotional overload again, it was one matter to know about their love to her – it was completely another thing to live through this scene. “Are you all seriously not mad at me?!”

“Okay, enough of this.” Chiyome would flick Katarina on the forehead “Group hug, everyone! Come on, get in – you too Alan, don’t make me fetch you myself.”

She would find out soon enough, group hugs were really difficult to breath in. But… oh it was so worth it. She just hoped… moments like these would never stop. So they could all be together, forever.

* * *

Katarina would smile as she finished recalling that day, there was still time before she would turn of age – it was surely going to be interesting times ahead, one way or another. While she was pretty sure her heart had been taken already, she would lie if she said she didn’t feel things for everyone in her friend group. At the very least Chiyome made it painfully clear she wouldn’t mind sharing her, Katarina still recalled the nosebleed she got from hearing that. Was that how she sounded to Geordo this whole time?! How did he manage to endure her… talk about having a taste of your own medicine.

Ah well, there was no point pondering on it now – as her mother told her, this mess was hers to solve, at her own pace – so it most definitely could wait. Katarina would reach for a new batch of papers, this was… ah, annoyingly Katarina found out she was sent yet another thesis. The title read “Applications of magic for means of mass production.”, well it sure did manage to catch her attention.

To be perfectly honest, she wasn’t sure why she kept receiving those works for review, she had no formal education of her own – but she made it a point to answer every single one of them. At first, it was easy as they were all concerning medicine and she knew a lot about that field, thanks to the good doctor – but eventually the works which came in would concern other sciences and even different fields of magic… At that point, Katarina had to involve Da Vinci and Asclepius to help her write a proper review back.

Still, were her words really that important to these people? Most of the works sent to her were of high quality, surely they could get by on their own, without any additional feedback from her. At the very least it made her feel smart every single time she managed to understand what the paper was talking about.

“Another one of those, huh?” Maria spoke up, as she lifted her eyes from her own work “That’s the third one this week. You should start charging them for having you work through those, Katarina.”

“Aaah, it’s nothing – besides even if they attend fancy schools it doesn’t mean they are strictly rich, Maria. It's important to give everyone an equal chance, that’s why I always reply to everyone as long as I can.” Katarina explained, smiling “Surely you would have wanted to receive an answer from me, if it was you sending something like that?”

Maria would blush, as she would pick up a bag of sweets she made earlier “Fair point… some sweets?”

“Thank you, I’ll gladly have some!” Katarina would get rather excited, Maria turned out to be quite a master cook once she got into it with all of her passion. Her sweets were particularly good. “Mmm, Lily, do you want some?”

Both Katarina and Maria would look into a corner, where Lily was working over the requisition forms with a serious face, she would shake her head – she wasn’t quite hungry yet and she was in the middle of a large batch.

“Okay… suit yourself. Work hard now, but don’t overwork yourself.” said Katarina, still slightly concerned for her – however she was doing a lot better.

* * *

In fact, Lily was doing much better – it took some time for her to get over the fear of being in a room with anyone else but Katarina, but she got there. Slowly, the smile which she would wear all the time was getting more and more genuine, however there was still a lot of sadness hidden behind it. Katarina couldn’t help her with that however, there was still a lot of pain she was wearing deep inside her. She would heal at her own time.

At the very least, Asclepius did manage to figure out a temporary work around to Lily’s main issue with her mental process, by utilizing her contract with Katarina - he and Da Vinci managed to rewire Lily’s body response to have a fifth, higher priority line of command – obeying her master, Katarina.

Katarina herself still felt icky about it, as this was way past her comfort zone, she wanted her to be well and happy, she didn’t want a… she didn’t want someone who would literally obey her every word, but they all had to make compromises – after all, as long as she worded herself carefully and gave specific orders like “work hard on this task” all four other commands would be rendered inactive, letting Lily to live in peace.

Sadly, due to it being a sort of a patchwork - the commands had to keep coming with certain regularity, so she couldn’t just order her to live happily until the end of days – which was the first thing Katarina tried. Ah well, they would figure something else eventually and then this all would be past them.

Having that little workaround in place, the only real big obstacle was Lily’s reaction to Chiyome, they both knew they would have to coexist going forward one way or another, but there was still… tension. Chiyome obviously was not a fan of the way Lily submitted to Katarina and absolutely was not a fan of how she referred to her, and Lily in turn was still simply terrified of Chiyome in her own right.

To make matters worse, the older of the Da Vinci’s said they would eventually fall in love due to her, if nothing was done about it. Because the circumstances would force the issue, eventually.

Katarina really was not sure how she was going to find enough time for everyone’s love life.

* * *

Speaking of Chiyome, Katarina would recall their first “date” after becoming a semi-official couple, it was quite an eventful day – it was their first combat training session.

It was her, Chiyome, Mary and Kieth, observed by Da Vinci and Asclepius – who would prepare lots of doses of his miracle cure, the one Katarina used to save Cecilia. He would have every single one of them drink a dose, before they would begin – as well as some extra strong painkillers.

As Katarina reached for a few more pieces of paper to review, she recalled how scary it was standing in front of Chiyome holding a sword. She really hoped she never would have to do that in an actual real life scenario – as these live training rounds taught her one thing, Chiyome was absolutely terrifying and held nothing back. The very first round ended a second after it began, with a sword going through Katarina’s chest – something she found quite ironic and terrifying at first.

She got better, of course – the second she “died” the medicine kicked in and the sword would exit her body leaving absolutely no damage to speak of. Asclepius would then stop them and take measurements and then they would proceed with the next duel. And the next and the next and it went on and on for hours.

It was honestly quite brutal, Katarina was getting second thoughts about training under Chiyome – so did Keith and Mary, who got destroyed in the very same way – but she did have to admit, that feeling when for the first time she managed to deflect the deadly strike – after having seen and experiencing it so many times, it was absolutely euphoric. So much so, she didn’t even notice the second strike, which brought her down to earth immediately after.

Servants were truly terrifying. Still, Katarina couldn’t really complain as she came to enjoy how strong and agile she would develop herself as she put herself through all of this hellish training, at this point – months later she could stand against Chiyome for twenty or so seconds of improvised combat, until she was completely fatigued… Mary could handle ten and Keith seven, the fact Mary would not let him live down so easily.

Obviously, Chiyome could always remind them they would all be dead ten thousand times over, if it wasn’t for Asclepius, but the girl wisely would hold her tongue – she did get to spend the time with people she liked, after all.

* * *

“Um, Katarina – are you daydreaming again? We have work to do..” Maria would nudge Katarina out of her memories, the young Claes would blush and apologize before going back to work.

The next order of business was a bunch of papers Lily would formulate for her, it was all of the needed equipment and resources, as well as explanation on what they would have to do to have a shot at just analyzing if they could save her friends from the so called “Shadow Border”, safely that is.

Going into the details, they would have to set up a system to monitor status of the world, the device called “Chaldeas” and pair it with some sort of computing system, called “TRISMEGISTUS” – only having those two set up they would be able to use another device called “Paper Moon” to head into Imaginary Number Space to begin looking for the correct location of the Shadow Border, which was supposedly stuck there. They would also need to make sure they would enter it in a proper time, because it had no conventional meaning of space and time – so even a small mistake could spell them failing their rescue operation, if it ever got that far.

It was quite a lot to take in, especially when it came to power and resource requirements – they would need what was estimated at six nuclear reactors worth of power to provide all the required energy for these devices, as well to get materials to build all of it. At least. So the path Lily would envision would be – set up a basic coal power plant and begin tool manufacturing, from there begin production of more sensitive equipment which she and her older self would handle – after that was done it would be time to begin safeguarding the planet from possible intervention, this is where “Chaldeas” came in…

Katarina would just sigh, as she would sign it all off, she knew this was going to cause a lot of problems – but a promise was a promise. She just hoped electricity would bring mostly good to the world, instead of actually sparking a war – which it very well could. Still, this was years away from being realized – no point worrying about it now.

What was worth worrying about was the next request – that one came from Blackbeard, who wanted to hire exactly two hundred women to serve as sailors for his ships. He wanted to start a seafaring company, as they would need lots of imports and exports going forward – so he thought he might as well start his own shop – under her name, of course. Katarina’s initial desire was to deny it on the spot, but she did remember him mentioning what his special quirk made his fleet stronger with the amount of women on board. It mostly applied to Queen Anne, his flagship – but parts of it did transition to the other ships in his armada, so a fully female crew would actually make perfect sense… and would ruin her reputation even further.

She already could imagine the rumors – “So the pervert Claes hired two hundred older women as sailors and made them wear inappropriate clothing, how shameful.” Seriously, how did people see her in that light?!

“I wonder how many would try and take me to the court, after a while.” Katarina would mumble as she would approve his request, if he wanted a seafaring harem… well, who was she to deny a man his dream, or whatever.

“Are you sure that’s the wisest idea, mistress?” Lily spoke up, as she peeked over what Katarina just signed, as she was picking some of the signed papers related to her project “The man might be acting as a pervert, yes – but doesn’t mean he isn’t actually a pervert.”

“Ugh… well, he is a legendary pirate so surely he takes his craft seriously. I’m sure he wouldn’t hire those who would get in the way of his operation, so I think we should be fine? Please? I hope. Maybe.” Katarina said, just putting the signed paper away “You can smack some sense into him if you see him doing something vile.”

“I see. It is as you say, mistress.” Lily would give a faint smile and would get back to work. “Oh, this request just came in – its from the factory workers over at penicillin production, they seem to have some discontent about their working conditions.”

“Oh, thank you… let me see.” Katarina would look it over, she would not tolerate any unhappy workers – an unhappy worker meant someone was messing something up, somewhere. The complaint itself was actually fairly straightforward – they were bored to half death, there wasn’t that much to do over there in between batch production and they did have six hour work shifts to get through.

Katarina would look at the clock, they were working for the past ten hours. Ah well, such was the life when one chewed way more than they should. She would look at the paper one more time, how did people fight with that back at home? Hm, well – they hired people to recite stories to the folk walking at the factories, then there was… of course!

“Radio! Da Vinci! We need a radio!” Katarina exclaimed, pointing at the letter. Maria would look at Katarina in slight confusion, as Lily would just scratch her head “You want me to make a radio, mistress? Hm, should be easy enough, but what for?”

Maria would start turning her head between the two, as Katarina would explain how workers were getting bored with nothing to do in their downtime – a radio playing music could provide lots of entertainment for them at minimal self-costs.

“I see… you would have to get someone to play around the clock, but yes I should be able to figure that out with magic alone. I might have to ask my older self to help up with constructing a recording device, but it should be trivial as radio equipment shouldn’t take that much energy… just passive magic should power it up fine.” Lily would explain, looking thoughtful “Radio was one of the huge inventions of proper human history, but as you will it, mistress – it will be done. By your leave.”

Lily would leave them, as Maria would turn to Katarina. “Proper human history? Is there… something I need to know, Katarina?”

“Um… right. Whoops.” Katarina would scratch her head “Promise not to tell anyone else for now, but I suppose…”

It was time for Maria to know everything, they all would have to know it eventually – but there was time and place for everything.

* * *

It would take mere days for Lily and Da Vinci to set up a radio broadcast station and manufacture a handful of simple radios, powered by passive magical flow in the air. Simple, efficient and most importantly – robust. From there, it was just a matter of summoning a servant who could play music – Katarina initially didn’t think much of it, so she would simply do the summoning escorted only by Miri and Chiyome, with a violin for a catalyst so they would summon a musician if possible.

**“** **_Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”_ **

As the summoning was performed, they would find in front of them a tall man standing clad in a black robe and a cape. A weird mask would cover his face, a mask he would remove to showcase his thinner face and long blonde hair. Chiyome would giggle, muttering something.

“Hm, how interesting.” the man would cough into his fist, as he picked up a violin which was used as his catalyst “I am Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart! I promise only to decorate your life with the music of the highest divinity! For music is not just merely my passion, but my life itself.”

“Well, you got whom you wanted, sis… um, Mozart – please don’t break the violin, I’ve “borrowed” it from a friend!” Chiyome said, as he would start playing the instrument with a dedication mandated by heaven. He would give her a stink eye, as if offended by the fact she suggested he would do something so criminal.

“Wait… “borrowed from a friend”? Did you nick it from Alan? Wait, shouldn’t have we invited him also?” Katarina asked, as she scratched her head…. He wouldn’t be mad about this, right? “W-well, welcome to the team, um, Amadeus! I’ve ugh, already got a job lined up for you, but let’s get you settled in first.”

They would head out to introduce Mozart to the rest of the servants and fill him in on the situation.

* * *

With a new musical talent on hand, one which would be more than happy to play day and night out – as well as working prototypes of radio in hand, it did not take long until the sweet sounds of music would fill not only the factories but the mansion of Claes family as well, truly it was something of a luxury to enjoy good quality music at all times.

However, it did not take a long time for a certain fellow to hear about the rumors of weird performances, which one could hear close by to the factories belonging to his dear friend – so Alan, being the musical enthusiast he is would head for one of those, to just inspect what all the fuss was about.

Having arrived at the factory, he would manage to convince the guard to let him through, he was a prince after all – he just had to claim something about an inspection and they would leave him alone for now, having gained assess he would enter the large brick building to be hit with the sounds of the most exquisite music he has heard from anyone else, maybe even himself. Upon further investigation, he would discover it was coming from an odd box which was set up in the middle of the factory.

He would narrow his eyebrows, it was clearly the work of Katarina and her servants, but why wasn’t he told anything about this?! This was outrageous! The one thing the dense friend of his was supposed to run screaming about to him! He would inquire from the workers, how long ago this new piece of music providence was installed – having received his answer, he would take his leave.

He would of course head out to Claes mansion immediately, to tell one of his best friends in life a piece of his mind. As in, speak up his mind at her until Chiyome or Lady Claes would kick him out of the building. Having arrived, he would burst through the doors like he used to back in the day.

**_“Katarina Claes!!!”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this chapter introduces the first minor servant! He will still get featured every once in a while, but he will sometimes be MiA for prolonged periods of time, just being reffered to or other such things. He is a an important component, which doesn't have to be brough to spotlight at all times. We will see a handful of servants like that.
> 
> New Minor Servant Summoned!  
> True Name: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  
> Class: Caster  
> Alignment: Chaotic Good  
> STR: D, END: E, AGI: B, MANA: B+, LUCK: D, NP: B  
> Height/Weight: 180cm・65kg  
> Territory Creation B  
> Protection of the Music God (False) (Rank EX): Originally, this is a Skill indicating being given the divine protection of Muses, the goddesses of music. It is the capacity to recognize and identify any and all sorts of sound, and it makes it possible to perform a prodigious musical performance. In addition, it also grants a plus correction on the usage of musical magic. Amadeus is able to display this Skill and effect equals to it with his own ability by means of his natural pitch sense, talent, and effort.  
> Minor Servant Role: Providing Music, Tutoring in Musical Art


	16. Chapter 14 - Matters of Honor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, its best to not provoke a sleeping bear.

Having smacked some sense into his klutz of a friend, Alan would then proceed with demands for her to take him to this “Mozart” person, as he wished to meet him immediately. 

“W-what, like, right now?” Katarina asked, still rubbing her forehead – why did people always go for her forehead? The scar would never heal at that rate. “Can’t I at least finish my work?”

“No, by the time you finish your work it's going to be next week, if not the next month.” Alan would give her the look “So get ready.”

“Those are fighting words, Alan!” Katarina would pout, crossing her hands. But yes, perhaps he had a point and perhaps she should have invited him over sooner.

“Ah, so you are ready to admit it was you who broke the piano by accident that one time and not my enthusiastic playing.” Alan would raise his eyebrow, as Katarina would straighten like a board.

“N-now, let’s not get hasty here, Alan! I am already getting dressed!” she would run off to find Cecilia or Anne, to have them help her change into something more appropriate for a city visit.

Having changed and boarded the carriage, the two would mingle a little bit – like nothing had happened. Alan looked positively ecstatic about the destination, however. Music was his passion, more than that - even. Katarina just hoped Amadeus wouldn’t drive him up the walls.

* * *

“This carriage is pretty fast.” He would note, as they would stop by a building somewhere on the outskirts of the capital, it was a pretty spacious warehouse sort of building with a large metal construction on it, which did stand out a little bit. “Are we at the right place? Looks more like a warehouse.”

“Yes, this is the place… there’s a lot of room for instruments we had to fit it and then there's concern for range.” Katarina explained ”This whole setup is kind of, how to explain it… Lily did her best trying to put it together, but it still might just fall over at any second. ”

“Hm… I see. So basically, this giant metal thing can fall over at any moment and you don’t want any liability.” Alan said, noticing how quiet it was. “But I don’t hear any music… why is that?”

“Oh yeah, Da Vinci installed sound insulation for better quality” Katarina mentioned “This way we also don’t get lots of complaints from the neighbors.”

“Huh… sound insulation… I have a feeling I will have to talk with her at some point.” Alan would make a mental note to himself, as they would enter the building and would proceed further in until they heard the music. “Ah, it is indeed the place.”

They would reach the biggest room of the building, it contained seemingly every instrument under the sun – a lot of them would be moving on their own under influence of magic as they would see the performer in question manning a viola, he did note their presence but would choose to ignore them for a couple of minutes until he was finished.

Alan would note the odd looking silver ball, with lots of runes etched into it which seemed to have been connected to a bunch of hastily put together pieces of wood, metal and some odd worm like bundles. He supposed that was the thing which made those music boxes work.

“And now, a ten minute break from yours truly.” Mozart would speak up, before flicking a switch connected to the silver ball. “Ah, Master – you brought that friend you mentioned, excellent.”

“More like, he brought me here.” Katarina would whine “Well, Alan – this is Mozart and Mozart, this is Alan. Please behav…”

“I challenge you to a musical duel, Mozart!” Alan would shout immediately upon learning his name “Also, nice to meet you.”

Amadeus would look at him, tilting his head clearly amused by this. He reminded him of someone, the way he looked, the way he talked – even the way he challenged him.

“Please, you can’t be serious…” Mozart would goad him, having decided to see how far his conviction would go “I am the best thing which happened to music since it’s invention and you’re… well, I just met you but the point still stands. I’m literally sliced bread of music.”

“He… can be a bit egotistical, Alan.” Katarina would warn her friend, laughing nervously – Chiyome did mention it to her earlier that, out of many servants in Chaldea, he was perhaps up there with his ego size – alongside Da Vinci, Moriarty… Holmes.

“Oh, I am serious. You, me – here, right now.” Alan said, dead serious.

* * *

At first it was just the two of them taking turns, Mozart would produce a piece, playing it one handed just to show off – not taking it seriously whatsoever – then Alan would mimic it, being as serious as possible, not letting the taunting get to him.

That went on for ages, despite the fact that every single time his flimsy attempt was bested, Mozart would put a little bit more effort in. He was taking the competition relatively seriously, by the time Alan peaked – however he was still not giving it his all.

“I must say kid, it’s pretty impressive… obviously has nothing on me, but I see potential. I mean, hundreds of musicians tried to beat me and failed miserably by going insane, there’s nothing shameful in that.” Amadeus would just laugh as he waved it off, he sure could be full of himself at times.

“Hm… you have more experience than me, that I can say for sure. Talent… well, I will judge that whenever I will get better myself.” Alan said adamantly “But until that point, we are doing this until either I go insane as well, or you lose.”

“And what if the world will go insane from the divinity of our music instead?” Amadeus asked, it was after all a real risk.

“Then, let them dance.” Alan would cross his arms “I wish to learn, to beat you – old man. The question is, are you afraid of inevitable defeat?”

Mozart would look at him and finally break into a hysterical laughter “Oh, I am always ready to go – it’s just a matter of how much you can keep up.”

Katarina would look between the two of them, as they found kindred spirits within each other. Somehow, she was sure eventually they would stop arguing and become good friends.

“So… can I go now?” Katarina asked, she still had work to do after all… actually a whole lot of work, at that “What’s with the look?”

“I think we could use a third in our performance.” Mozart said, grinning all of the sudden “If we are to go down the route of madness, might as well make it an event. We’re doing it live!”

“Indeed, that will be your penance, Katarina!” Alan claimed, as they both would determine she was going to learn music too.

“W-wh-what?! I didn’t agree to anything like that, I sleep three hours a day as is anyway!” Katarina said, it was _**absolutely out of the question.**_

* * *

By the time Katarina returned home from the extensive training session, her fingers would hurt. And her pride, for letting them talk her into this nonsense AND for flunking so many times on air, she just wondered what all of the listeners thought. At the very least, Alan and Mozart managed to salvage her mistakes handily.

She just wished they wouldn’t force her to go straight into such difficult works, she was pretty sure the first thing Mozart had her do on a piano was his “Jenamy” or Concerto number 9 – which was an incredibly punishing work, especially since she barely knew how to play the piano to begin with. Sure, she gave it her best shot back when she met Alan, but she didn’t have enough time to actually play it for... years, at this point.

Having entered her office, Katarina would find Maria waiting there with Lily, both looking absolutely destroyed - they have finished most of the work for today – excluding a few pieces she had to sign personally. She felt like she needed to give them a tight hug, as a thank you.

“Katarina, that was some lovely music!” Maria said, surprising Katarina – oh right, they had a radio in the office. She wondered if they knew she was coming soon, because of it.

“Quite a few mistakes, but you did great, mistress” Lily would chip in also “Could have been better, could have been worse. Beats Nero.”

“Ah… um, thank you? Was it really not that bad?” Katarina asked, unsure now on how she did.

“Well, it was endearing.” Lily said, avoiding the question “Great for your skill level.”

“That’s not an answer, Lily.” Katarina would sigh as she sat down “Well, maybe it will go better with time… it would be nice to have a wide list of talents.”

“Yours grows by the day, Katarina” Maria said, more than happy, she was astounded by how much information her boss could absorb and keep on going like it was nothing.

“O-okay, quit that now.” Katarina would wave them off, blushing “So, what do we have for today…?”

“Oh, we have a bunch of orders for the “radio” from our factory workers” Maria chirped happily “So, there will be plenty of households hearing you going forward, Katarina.”

“W-what is with everyone today? Did I say something to upset you all?” Katarina would pout, as she would be embraced into a hug “Alright, alright fine, I was just jesting.”

Still, it was slightly concerning that there was already such a demand for these things – sure they could manage with passive magical flow for now to power them, but what if it changed?

“Oh and there is one more thing, mistress.” Lily said “This one is from me and Asclepius, but we would like authorization to build a water purification facility and bring the comforts of actual proper toilets to this world.”

Katarina would turn her head to look at her, sternly.

“I did no such thing, mistress” Lily said, adamantly.

“I haven’t even said anything yet.” Katarina said, tilting her head “Sooo…”

“I did NO such thing, mistress!” Lily would emphasize it one more time. “It’s just that it makes the most sense. The location of the river is a little bit far, but it’s large enough to also utilize the facility as a power source. Plus, it would be another good thing to introduce – clean, drinkable water to the masses. Showers. Think of the possibilities, mistress.”

Katarina would open her mouth, as she would think – she did miss having a good, hot shower on demand. It was one of those absolute luxuries which just did not exist even as a noble lady, too much effort for what it was worth.

“You would need permission from the crown, too?” Katarina would ask, as Lily would pull it from under a stack of paper “Already taken care of by Chiyome.”

“Oh, so you two finally got around to helping each other?” Katarina asked, she was glad.

“W-what? N-no, it’s just… well, yes – I suppose, mistress.” Lily would give up, not wishing to argue a losing point “But this would be the turning point in history, after all the modern world is built on convenience which Sorcier sorely, sorely lacks.”

“It still feels surreal, after having done this so many times at this point.” Maria spoke up all of the sudden “Seeing you shape the future of our country just like that. It’s both scary and wonderful at the same time… mostly scary.”

She had to admit, this was all way over her head – she was mostly keeping up pace because it was interesting in a way and also because it allowed her to spend time with Katarina, but she still felt absolutely inadequate among the whirlpool of changes.

“You can’t even imagine how it feels handling all of this, Maria.” Katarina would let out a tired sigh “And I hope you never find out… but yes, Lily – in that case it is settled. I’m looking forward to that shower!”

“Are you looking forward to taking that shower with someone else, mistress?” Lily would ask, after wisely moving a little bit away from the potential retribution range. As it turned out, she had a pillow thrown at her.

* * *

As all of their plans would start springing into action - Katarina would find herself omitting sleep entirely, several times a week in fact - preferring to keep herself up with magic and energy supplements. This couldn’t go on forever, of course - she knew that, everyone else knew that… but it was hard to put a stop. 

If everything prior to right now wasn’t enough, Asclepius finally finished his studies into the local magic - having deducted enough research material for them to publish the rest of those medical tomes they planned some time ago.

By this point, the first tome already was a staple in medical education, for any budding doctor - as such it was a high priority task, since it would benefit lots of people. Then there was Blackbeard and his business, however he did the smart thing - asking Katarina if he could recruit Nicol and Sophia into his business workings, as they would be well positioned to help him manage the finer things of trade without taking up Katarina’s precious free minutes. 

Then there was the search for a suitable catalyst to attempt the summoning of the assassin class servant - Asako. Also known as Hassan of the hundred faces. The idea of having a servant who materialized in a span of a hundred servant grade bodies, each with their own field of expertise was just too good to pass up - she could finally assign a guard to each one of her friends and to her entire family.

The problem was, there was literally nothing in this world they could figure out would do the trick to summoning her and Katarina had no idea how many more servants she could summon. So, she had to make them count. At least, that was her excuse.

* * *

It was during musing on that topic, Geordo would visit her in the office.

“Katarina? Are you still working? You really should be getting some breaks, every now and again. It's unhealthy.” He said, as he would put some tea and sweets on her table “From Maria. I’m actually surprised you aren’t taking the break alongside those two.”

“Mmm… we’re behind on some important work.” Katarina would wave it off “But thank you for bringing the treats. What’s happening out there, anyway?”

“Oh, you know - just wanted to swing by and make sure you prepared something for Chiyome’s tenth birthday? You know, it's only a month to go and I dare say you might have forgotten behind all of this.” Geordo said, looking at her sternly.

Katarina would look at him, dropping the cookie she was holding in her hands. “Oh, s…”

* * *

Katarina was glad to have such reliable friends – as Geordo would present her with a well thought out plan of action. The idea was, Katarina would get Chiyome with a perfect date, for which he and everyone else would train her… by taking her out on dates! One on one time, with a perfect topping at the end. Katarina agreed without thinking much about it, it was a win/win in her books and well - this has taken the emergency slot in her schedule.

As he was the one who devised this plan of action, Geordo had the first picking on the topics, he chose kissing.

* * *

“So, Katarina – as you might have been aware up until now Chiyome has been taking a role of a suitor, which is a little bit out of line with her reputation as an impeccably raised lady. As such, all of us believe you should work towards a slow reversal on that front. Which means, you need a particular set of skills.” Geordo smiled “My task has been decided and approved by everyone already – I will be teaching you the art of kissing.”

“Um…” Katarina would blush, as she processed everything – they were currently in one of the studies in the Royal Castle, it was a pretty private place, perfect for such a training – after all, even if someone happened to see them, they were engaged. “W-wait a second, what kind of reputation do I have, then?!”

“Hm, let me see… a brilliant and kind young lady with prodigious knowledge of science, magic, architecture and medicine… who happens to be an enormous pervert.” Geordo said, looking at her “To be honest, I have tried stomping those rumors out as they are inconvenient to me as much as they are to you, but at the end of the day they might not be that bad. Even helpful.”

“Helpful?! Helpful how?!” Katarina would squick, every time she heard about it, she felt like she was getting a fever.

“Well, seeing as you are quite popular among… everyone – if you were seen making out with say… your sister, somewhere” Geordo said, purely hypothetical of course “Instead of a kingdom shattering scandal which most other people would have to deal with, you would probably get something along the lines of – wow, she even managed to corrupt her sister. How shameless of her.”

“My sister is the one corrupting me, thank you very much.” Katarina said, rubbing her forehead slightly “I really don’t like this tactic, have Asclepius taught you that?”

Geordo would grin, not answering her. Jerk.

“In fact, Katarina” Geordo would mention “I would even recommend embracing it at this point. At the very least you can get some pretty funny faces out of people, if you can come up with a witty enough response.”

Katarina in turn would just blush, thinking what could she even say to some of the questions she began getting as of late.

“In any event, I believe it is time to start our session.” Geordo said “First of all, show me everything you know about the art of kissing and then I will start filling in the holes for you.”

“You know, is this a blatant excuse to get kissed by me a bunch, Geordo?” Katarina asked, as she would come closer.

“Yes, but if ChiChi is not going to play fair, neither will any of us. Besides, she benefits – doesn’t she?” Geordo would grin, showing his trademark smile which was second in charm only to Nicol.

“Fine, fine… I get it…” Katarina would blush as she would kiss him several times on the cheeks and once on the lips, that was about the extent of her knowledge. 

“Hm… well, we have plenty of work ahead of us.” Geordo would say, thinking it all through “First of all…”

He would spend the next few hours explaining to her the best way to kiss, as well all of the different kinds of kisses and when they were appropriate, as well as techniques and how to use them correctly. Then, he would showcase them to her personally and then had her practice them on him. It was a pretty large amount of kissing.

“Hm, I must say this was most enjoyable.” Geordo laughed “Still, you lack practice – despite the fact I trained all of these to perfection mostly on you.”

“Huh? Really? Wait….” Katarina would try to think, well – he did like to kiss her, she just always assumed it was him acting a part out, not love “Oh. Right.”

“Oh, right – indeed.” Geordo would put a hand on her shoulder “I would recommend practicing on everyone else, as they will give their lessons to you. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.”

“You made some sort of bet with everyone else, didn’t you?” Katarina asked, giving him a stink eye.

“Yes, obviously.” he would not hide it from her, she really grew a lot as a person. “I am already looking forward to all the favour this will gain me.”

* * *

The next in line for her education was Mary, she would invite Katarina over and would give her an extensive lesson on flowers, what kind of flowers everyone in their circle of friends liked as well as how to use the flowers to stimulate one’s senses.

“Mary, you know so much about flowers, it’s kind of terrifying at times…” Katarina would admit, as she learned yet another flower combination which would make a person relax their senses and lower their defense, which she felt was a little bit of a weird combination to teach – but she didn’t question Mary.

“Thank you, Katarina~” Mary would smile “I’ll take it as a compliment, that is. So, considering the colors you and ChiChi tend to use, I would say this combination of flowers would be the best. Also I heard from Geordo that he was successful in teaching you some tricks, well there are herbal remedies akin to lipstick which can help you with that!”

Mary would then pluck a couple of flowers and would process them, showing it all to Katarina, then applying a droplet to her lips and then kissing her on the check. It felt slightly tingly and cold, but in a weirdly nice way.

“Feels nice, doesn’t it?” Mary would smile “Some of the flowers have nice little properties like that, something to do with magical residue. This one is called Winter’s Kiss – I assume the name is self explanatory.”

“Hm, I wonder if it can be used as…” Katarina said, as she had Mary’s finger pressed against her lips.

“No work talk here, Asclepius already buzzed my ears about it. We are here for a different reason.” Mary would say, sternly “I believe you need to practice some kissing, right?”

Katarina would blush, but after a couple of seconds would nod.

“Well, let’s get to it…!”

* * *

Keith would be the next in line, his lesson would be much more straightforward – it was a lesson about manners, how a male suitor would care for a noble lady – things which he was quite comfortable teaching, really. And something he would enjoy showing to Katarina first hand.

“This is quite complicated…” Katarina would mumble, as she would moan feeling completely inadequate “How do you boys keep up with all of this nonsense?”

“The same way you keep up with your work? We shut up and do it.” Keith would poke at her forehead “It is important you know, especially if you’re going to try anything in public. Which, you will have to do eventually… unless you fancy hiding somewhere until the end of time.”

Katarina would mutter something indecent, as she would go through the customs routine with Keith one more time, he was a fine gentleman and he clearly meant everything he said, during their training when he was showing her the ropes.

It was just… still hard to come to terms, she honestly thought it was Nicol who stole his heart, not herself. Maybe she is kind of a pervert, for just attracting so many people to herself.

“So I wanted to ask, what’s up with the volume of purchases you’ve been doing? You have acquired… a lot of land, sis.” Keith asked, a little bit out of the blue “Just what are you all planning?”

Katarina would blank out for a second, before replying “We will be sounding the bells of progress, Keith.”

Keith would hold the bridge of his nose, as he would say “You know, I’m afraid Da Vinci is starting to rub off on you with that annoying way of explaining herself.”

“It’s… hard to explain, Keith… for now, let’s just focus on this and maybe you would like a dance?” Katarina would try to switch the topic. It worked wonders, for now - but she would have to tell him eventually. It’s just, she really didn’t want to talk about work for now.

For now, she just wanted to give him a chance she was denying him all this time. 

* * *

Nicol would be next on the block, as he would teach Katarina how to, of all things – recite poems. She had no idea he also enjoyed written works - just like Sophia, especially poetry – as he generally kept rather quiet most of the time. 

He would have her memorize and then adapt a couple of generic romantic poems for Chiyome, then everyone else one by one.

Having gone through that, he would note the places she was obviously faking her intonation and after having done that - would recite everything himself, putting his lovely voice to work. He was an absolute pleasure to listen to, Katarina would find herself blushing really soon.

“Awww, sheesh.” Katarina would turn away as he would recite an example to her name, he was too good at the whole being charming thing “You really could have picked any girl in the kingdom, yet….”

“Every woman is a treasure, but not every treasure shines equally in every hand.” He would counter, as he would have her do another round.

“How can you compliment literally everyone, while completely dodging my remark… I swear.” Katarina would just give a happy sigh, smiling “And Sophia isn’t here too, so I can’t ask her to teach me the ways.”

“You should focus on our work here, Katarina.” Nicol would remind, giving a short smile “It will be helpful when the time comes for what you just said.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Katarina asked, slightly confused.

* * *

The answer presented herself pretty fast, as the next one was Sophia – who would have Katarina not recite poems, but write them from scratch! She herself prepared a dozen or so of her own short works, which were loosely based on all of her favorite stories – it seems she did pick up writing after all.

_ “We played a game – of crimson moons and silver rivers, _

_ They shined so deeply out for me, _

_ I lost my heart, in my desires, _

_ To reach for them another time” _

That was the best one Katarina managed, which wasn’t particularly good – but she tried to explain what she saw in front of her the best – in this case of course the little thing was dedicated to Sophia, whom Katarina still found absolutely beautiful. That opinion really never changed, nor would it – even with beauties like Lily running around.

“Hm… that one was pretty good…” Sophia said with a blush, she did get the meaning after a couple of seconds “T-that’s cheating, however. I did tell you to write about someone who’s not judging you right now!”

“But I can’t if I don’t have a visual reference! I need a muuuuuse! Sophia, you right now are my muse!” Katarina would insist, putting her hands on her shoulders, sending poor Sophia into a stupor.

“Waa… o-okay! I will be your muse, Katarina!”

* * *

Alan of course, would give her a more personalized lesson in romantic music – he would keep it strictly professional, still refusing to play along with the whole “in love with Katarina thing” even if Mary insisted he was in love with her.

“You know, Alan… music is kind of fun to play, casually that is.” Katarina said, as they would be going through several appropriate pieces.

“If you keep on coming to train with me and Mozart, you will soon be able to perform on a serious note just as casually as you do right now, even in front of other people.” Alan would muse “By that I mean nobility, of course you are already good enough for this radio thing.”

“Thank you… but I was kind of thinking of practicing singing, to go together with music. I think that would be met fairly well.” Katarina mentioned on the off hand “But singing classes… don’t think I have the time or energy to go through them right now.”

“Understandable.” Alan would completely get that, he himself had to relax a little bit from his learning rate – Mozart was an… indomitable enemy, at least for now. Every single time since he began studying under him, the man would completely crush Alan until he himself was perfect.

Still, one day he would leave the old man in the dust, even if he had to move mountains to do so. “A good singing voice is a rarity, but I would be ecstatic to have you play with us. If you get good enough, the three of us could rock the very foundation of music, at our own pace.”

“I would like to not rock the world any more when I have to, right now… already way over my head.” Katarina would sigh wistfully, how did all of this nonsense even started? With her trying to achieve greater heights? Well, she should be careful with what she wished for in the future. Great power came at a great cost to one’s sleeping schedule.

* * *

And of course, Maria would be the last person to teach Katarina, as she apparently had quite a lot of research to conduct for something while everyone else had turns. So much so, she even enlisted the help of Celilia and Miri, from what Katarina gathered. She was suspecting it was something about picking nice, romantic places, as they would arrange a meeting in a little forest glade away from the prying eyes.

In fact, this place was Katarina’s parents favourite romantic spot - it even had a little gazebo installed and all, which did make Katarina slightly nervous, she… did not like gazebos. For some reason, gazebos just had this sense of dread around them for the girl - as if something evil was in the air. In fact, she felt the same back in the castle.

“Where are they…” Katarina would mutter, getting slightly nervous - Maria was supposed to be dropped off by both mothers some time ago, it was already getting a little bit late. This did not help with the feeling of anxiousness Katarina was getting from the place - was it just her being paranoid, or her intuition?

Deciding not to take any chances, Katarina would mentally ask Chiyome or Blackbeard to swing by, whoever would end up being closer… as she would reach for her brooch and take out a small, red pill from a hidden compartment and take it.

It was all a part of a contingency plan everyone developed after Lily joined them - as all of them sadly were too busy to guard her at all times, her jewelry has been adapted to hold several doses of resurrection medicine and Katarina was to take it liberally if she felt even a little bit at danger. Well, to be honest - everyone had their jewelry outfitted like that, including the royal family, on Geordo’s request. 

The moment Katarina would swallow the cure, she felt the familiar sense of warmth and safety wash over her - it was some powerful stuff and, if Chiyome couldn’t kill her under it, Katarina doubted anyone else could. As such, the girl would brave her emotions and would get up from the bench inside the gazebo and would go for a walk - stretching her legs.

There was something wrong after all, she would end up realising after walking a little bit around the gazebo - there was… most likely someone here with her. And it was not Chiyome, as she was currently on the way here. Having realised that Katarina would start powering up her magic circuits, she was not going to be a damsel in distress - whoever this was.

“Oh? What’s with the sour face, little one? Realised someone is watching? Impressive.” a sudden voice would send chills down Katarina’s spine - it would boom across the glade, preventing her from telling where it was coming from. She would look around, trying to see if she could find even a hint of where this mysterious stranger was. 

“Who are you?! What are you doing here?!” Katarina would shout, as she would finally realise where her eyes were deceive her, she was thankful for all of those lost games of hide and seek against Chiyome. Honestly, she always claimed she didn’t cheat with presence concealment, but Katarina knew better…

“Oh, little girl… I am here to kill you. Or if you are willing to be reasonable, take you to my employer. You don’t want to die, do you?”

“How… how straight forward of you.” Katarina would reply, she was in actual danger - that was an oddly terrifying feeling. No, she had to relax - she had every advantage under the sun - there was no way she would die before Chiyome and Blackbeard would get here and even if something would go catastrophically wrong, she could spend one of the precious command seals to get them here immediately. The assassin literally picked the worst target possible.

“Get on your knees and you will be spared.” The voice would demand of her, then there was a chuckle “You do that fairly often anyway, do you not? Or do you have others kneel when you have a go?”

Katarina would get thrown for a loop by that comment, seriously?! Right now?! 

“Oh, people tend to kneel after I am done.” Katarina said, only half retorting to the inappropriate comment above. After all, her servants did kneel to her periodically, just to tease her. 

“Well, let's see how you will look on your knees.” as Katarina heard those words, she would see several throwing knives fly at her from the mysterious visual anomaly she detected a little bit ago, she would dash to the left - having anticipated the attacks would start eventually. 

“Excuse me, that seems rather rude!” Katarina would yell out, as she would dodge another set of knives - which seemed to have even greater speed then the previous one. “Do you often bully children?!”

“Mmm, whenever they are obnoxious brats, yes. But I must say, I didn’t believe the rumors initially - but you managed to dodge me twice… without a scratch, even. Prodigies are so annoying…” the assailant would say, as they would drop their magic - appearing to Katarina in full. 

They had a bulky grey armour, covering them from head to toe - with a skull shaped helmet. The armor appeared to be enchanted. “But, you have an honor of standing before Rugdo, One of the five worthies, it's time to take this seriously.” 

“You talk a lot for someone who hasn’t managed to do anything yet.” Katarina said, she always disliked boastful people - trying not to be one herself, when possible. 

“Huh, haven’t done anything? Well, I did butcher those little piggies coming to see you here. Their screams were wonderful.” Rugdo would then proceed to laugh, observing Katarina’s shocked reaction before suddenly switching on the offensive with tendrils of black magic.

It was rather obvious, Katarina’s reaction after hearing that was a simple one - rage and fear. She was usually a very calm person, kind to those around her - sacrificing her own needs for others, whenever she could overcome her own selfish desires. But hearing this, even someone like Katarina would have a spot of darkness appear - ripe for abuse.

Rugdo would send enough energy to easily knock Katarina out, the second an opening presented itself - or at least, that’s what should have been the case. Something went wrong, instead of falling unconscious and screaming in terror, the girl would just tremble and shake… in fear?

Katarina would in fact tremble - from the rage which would swell up and explode, the medicine she took earlier preventing her from fainting. She would snap her hand up and fire a gandr at full power, then another one - at the legs of the person who dared, dared to believe they had a right to even touch her family. Her friends. 

The shots would make the distance in split seconds, blowing away both legs of the assassin - the masterfully crafted armor, for all of its great perks did nothing to stop the deadly blasts. 

“Gah!” Rugdo would, of course fall flat,screaming in agony - not having anything to stand on all of a sudden would do that to even the most experienced person, that was unexpected. The only course of action, as the adrenaline kicked in - was to throw the rest of the throwing knives, even if it meant killing his target, which after all was not the preferred outcome. But, fear prevailed.

Katarina would get hit by every single one of them… only for them to pop out of her, as the medicine would work it’s magic. She didn’t even try to dodge - as her mind was fixated on dispensing justice. 

“W-who.. What are you?!” there was a scream, as Katarina would shoot two more times - this time the hands of the assassin would say goodbye.

“I am Katarina Claes and you… you are one of the “worthies” was it? So, carry on.. You were saying all of that good stuff just a minute ago. Did the cat get your tongue? How about another lewd joke about me?” Katarina would get close and press her boot against Rugdo’s throat. She wanted to kill this.. Man? Woman? Right there. But as she would aim at the head, panic would go through her - what was it she was doing?!

“Katarina! Wait!” Chiyome would scream out, as she and Blackbeard would arrive, both moving at breakneck speeds - that did the trick of stopping Katarina dead in her tracks. As her rage would begin to fade, she would look at the now passed out assassin under her. The person in question was not dead, that much she could tell after checking them over - but they were out cold. 

“What happened, master?! Did that freak dare to attack you?” Blackbeard would get closer “Where is everyone else?”

“They… no, no, they are fine.” Katarina would mumble, as she looked at Blackbeard “They must have attacked them when they were heading here. Please go ahead and look for the carriage!”

Teach would nod, heading off immediately - this was serious and he was not a man to joke around in situations like that.

“Are you alright, sis? You are… positively glowing with malice.” Chiyome warned, as Katarina would look at her.

“I think… that was some sort of magic he used on me…” she had trouble putting the words into sentences. “But I think it’s… subsiding.” 

It did not take a long time for Blackbeard to return, with bad news.

“The carriage was hit. One body, the driver… old man Sankey. I took the liberty of “resuscitating” him. He said there was a group of seven people who hit them, took everyone and got rid of him.” Blackbeard said, as he would fire his flintlock - going over to cauterize the passed out assassins limbs. “Master, I know it’s not your cup of tea, but…”

“This will not stand.” Katarina said, she was still furious - even if dark magic subsided “They dare attack my family. My friends.”

Her friends might as well have been her family, really - but if the world was planning to rear its ugly head at her like that…

“Chiyome. Find out everything this person knows. Everything. There is no forgiveness for this.” Katarina said, shaking - as realization what she could lose them for good would hit her. 

No. Even if she had to become a villain - she would get them back, safe and sound.

“Will be done. Trust me. Teach, be ready to head out to crack heads on moment’s notice.” Chiyome said as she would pick up the body “Please escort Katarina and Sankey home.”

There'll be hell to pay.

* * *

It wouldn’t take long to get Rugdo fully pacified for interrogation - during the process they found out Rugdo was actually a woman, hidden behind all of that armor. She did not tell her real name, choosing to act defiant even under the circumstances, at least - until Chiyome got to work on her. 

Asclepius would help, of course - making sure to fulfil his duty as a doctor, when there was a gravely wounded patient in front of him. He omitted the fact, someone was constantly undoing his work, but such was the way of things. Even Da Vinci, who usually would take issue with such matters, dared not speak up - she was uneasy about it, but understood where everyone was coming from.

As the evening would hit and everyone of importance would be gathered in the castle, as per emergent situation, Chiyome would tell everyone what she managed to get out of the stubborn assassin. Which was not much, just the fact that they should be “well enough out of your reach, by this point”.

Luigi, who would be pacing around the room they were in for some time, would almost tear his hair in frustration. 

“Out of our reach…” the Queen would muse, putting the pieces together “She must have meant the border line… The five worthies are the squad of elite agents employed by the kingdom of Quid, they are one of the reasons they can project that much strength anywhere. As they are across the sea from us, they must have been shipped over. They would be able to reach the ports in that time frame easily enough.” 

Everyone would look in the direction of Blackbeard, who would stand up the second that was brought up.

“Understood. Heading out to the port immediately. I’ll get them back, Master.” Teach would say, as he would go into his spirit form.

“I will accompany him to the port and will provide him with information assistance.” Chiyome said doing the same “We WILL get them back, everyone.” 

“This is outrageous!” Luigi would finally snap “They dare not only kidnap my beloved Miri, but they dare to attempt to lay a finger on Katarina! I demand swift and merciless action from the crown!” He was a duke, for crying out loud - this was absolutely ridiculous.

“And it will follow.” The queen said, reassuringly “We will have to break in the… agent, but once that happens we will have sufficient evidence to bring forth a full scale embargo. Quid might be powerful and relatively advanced among the nations, but they rely on imports a lot more than we do. Most of it is from Etran, coming through our lands - we will stand by your family.”

Luigi would… stop pacing as roughly, having heard that - but still could not bring himself to relax.

“But, this was what I meant, Katarina.” Her Majesty would say, looking at the girl “They see you as a threat, evidently… and are not above risking so much to get to you. Let us hope for everything…”

“It’s alright, Your Majesty. It will be alright, I know it.” Katarina would say, it was rude to interrupt - especially the queen, of all people but she would do so anyway “And I will stand by my country as you stand by us. I didn’t… didn’t want to believe into this future, but… my hands are forced, so I shall act accordingly.”

It was her fault. She wouldn’t blame herself over it - but she should have followed the advice the queen gave her. She would have to pick up the pace of summonings, one way or another. No more excuses now.

“Well, let us await the good news, then.” The Queen smiled, as grim as the situation could potentially get, it presented a great opportunity for Sorcier.

* * *

“At least we are all well…” Cecilia would speak up, finding herself trapped in a tiny room on a large ship alongside her daughter and Lady Claes. They were safe, for now - but they had no idea when the rescue would come, they were just fairly sure it would. 

Maria would just snug closer to her mother, she was scared a fair bit - even if they did tell her everything was going to be fine. The scene she had to witness during their kidnapping have… left its traces in her imagination. 

“Indeed. The audacity of these people…” Miri would sigh, she did not expect something like that to happen… so soon. “I just hope Katarina is alright…”

“She’ll be fine.” Cecilia smiled, having actually witnessed her combat training “The things she can do in a pinch are something to behold. I am more worried for...”

Suddenly, the ship would shake, as if it just got hit by something violent.

“For the crew of this ship.” Cecilia would finish “Good timing. Maria, do close your ears for a bit.”

Maria would look at her mother, but would cover her ears. It was soon enough evident why Cecilia suggested that, as screams would start across the ship - as if a wave of violence would find its way across, slaughtering everything in its way. 

A few minutes after, the door to their room would be literally torn open, as Blackbeard would peak in. Seeing them all, his face would lighten - as if an anchor would drop from his shoulders. His relaxed, thankful look was a grim contrast to his coat which usually wasn’t so… red.

“There you are… sheesh. That’s good. Okay, it’s safe - everyone out. You might want to cover the little lass’es eyes.” Teach was pretty straight forward, as he would lead them all out to the upper deck. There was a good reason for that warning. The blood was everywhere, corpses littered the ground - the three ladies would try to navigate around them as they would get outside. It was not much better outside.

“And over this way, please.” Teach would escort them to a convenient little section they placed to make it easy for them to board Queen Anne’s Revenge, a name Cecilia would find funny in a way. “Okay, please keep little Maria occupied for a little bit.”

“What.. what for?” Miri would ask, she had an idea of what was about to happen, but wanted to make sure. 

“You know how the song goes… or well, actually you don’t. So let me sing it for you.” Blackbeard would muse, as they would gain some distance away from the Quid ship.

_**“Shiver my timber, shiver my sails.”** _

Loud sound of gunfire would drown out the tune he was singing, as the foreign ship would find its new watery embrace.

_**“Dead men tell no tales.”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little status update - by this point, Katarina's only real weakness here is succeptibility to dark magic. Otherwise, she can comfortably go one on one herself against most of the threats presented to her in the realm of Sorcier. But she is still a little bit away from the namesake of the story - especially considering the other half of the shared universe.
> 
> For those wondering, if the kidnapping was solved a little bit too fast - Queen Anne's revenge gains speed and attributes with its female crew. Blackbeard simply just caught up and checked every ship headed for Quid, easily enough. By checking, I mean do what he does best. 
> 
> But anyway, next chapter things will get even crazier, so I hope you will join me in Volume 2 of Interludes and Examinations!


	17. Interludes and Examinations (Vol. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The package of little scenes important to the story after the Quid agent moment. Please do read at the very least the very last interlude, as it is important.

It would naturally take some time for everyone to get back to the previous way of life – the recent events with the Quid agents has left everyone on the edge, one way or another. Still, life had to go on – with Miri, Cecilia and Maria safely returned – everyone would take some time to themselves.

**_~ Katarina and Miri ~_ **

It would be an understatement to say that Miri was enjoying much more attention from everyone after the whole ordeal, not that she never got plenty of attention to begin with, but still – it felt nice. The biggest prize of course was – getting Katarina out and away from her work, for once… Miri wouldn’t lie to herself, she felt nothing but pride and love for her daughter – but she lamented the fact she was growing up too fast. She would miss the days of her daughter being a carefree disaster, just enjoying her childhood while she was at it – sweet, innocent simpleton.

But, those days have passed – and they would never come back. Still, she could guilt her daughter into taking a little break every once in a while.

“Feel free to get the last macaron, dear” Miri would mention, as they would be enjoying some tea, just talking about little nothings.

“Thank you, mother.” Katarina would say, reaching for the last confection, as she would chew on it she would look up into the ceiling “Is something bothering you?”

Miri would look at her, there was a lot bothering her. There wasn’t supposed to be any macarons left for a little while now - Katarina used to devour those in spades. Of course, that was in a way what Miri wanted from her daughter a long time ago – but now it all seemed… wrong.

“Just… surprised at your table manners.” Miri said softly, sighing wistfully.

“O-oh! I’m sorry. I thought I did everything right?” Katarina would be thrown for a loop there, she did try her hardest to do everything by the book… where did she mess up?

“That’s… not that I meant.” Miri would shake her head “Just ease up and be yourself, Katarina. Your childhood won’t last forever, you know… you’ll have a whole life ahead of you to be serious.”

Katarina would tilt her head, looking her mother over suspiciously. Was that really her mother, or did someone was playing pretend?

Miri would give her daughter her trademark “you are so dead” smile, as she realized why she was looking at her like that. Katarina would pale a little and stop.

“When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep? Be honest with me.” Miri would ask, looking at her. “No less than eight hours”

Katarina would look away, thinking long and hard. She couldn’t remember the last time, now that mother mentioned it.

“Exactly.” Miri would take the silence as the answer “You don’t even know yourself.”

“It’s important…” Katarina would try to argue, before having Miri smack her on the head with her fan.

“You are also important, you dunderhead!” Miri would glare at her “Okay, this does it. Executive decision, as your mother – you are getting a week’s break from all of this nonsense.”

“… and the work, mother?” Katarina would ask, tilting her head to a dangerous level. Surely she wasn’t serious, there was no way anyone else could handle it.

“I will do it for you, if it’s so important.” Miri would insist “Don’t you trust me? I’ve got this under full control.”

* * *

Miri – did not in fact have anything under control. The moment she would sit behind Katarina’s desk, she would get smashed from all directions by the workflow. Lily and Maria would of course, help her to get through this – but this seemed… impossibly difficult. Not only was there just so much raw amount of paperwork to do, all of it was rather complicated and specific – everything had to be checked, proofed, signed and in some cases even copied, by hand. And the terminology did not help at all.

Did she do that every day?! How, why and what for?! This was a whole department's worth of work, on her table and even between all of the help she would be getting, this was ridiculous!

And she spent just a few hours a day sorting this? How did she find any time whatsoever for any of her other activities? She knew for a fact, there was a lot her daughter did apart from this paperwork.

“Um… Lady Claes, you made a mistake in this form… I’m afraid it’s no good.” Maria would speak up, as she would make sure the form was filled up correctly “Let me fetch another one.”

Miri would sigh, thanking the girl. She would see this through, even if it would kill her – but she was going to find a way to reduce this workload for Katarina. One way or another.

Her daughter was not going to spend her childhood signing papers… all the time.

Then again, the company was not unpleasant.

**_~ Cecilia and Anne ~_ **

The two maids working under the Claes household, would currently be clearing parts of the attic – it was a rather difficult task, considering it was a storage space for all of the garbage which no one wanted to throw out. Servants included. But, they needed living space – all of the rooms have been taken by this point and well, Katarina did plan to summon more servants in the future. 

“Mmm… well, we could put a sort of wall here and we would have two cozy rooms…” Cecilia would plan it all out, as she would move a chest away from a window. “Wow, this is heavy…”

“Hm, I think that’s the chest with all of the old clothing not in use anymore.” Anne would note, as she would come closer to Cecilia putting a hand on her shoulder “Let me help.”

“Mmm… is there anything that can be... recycled, instead of throwing it out?” Cecilia asked, being of a practical approach.

“Highly inappropriate… but let’s check out.” Anne would say, after thinking for a bit. It’s not that they weren’t paid well enough to get their own things – but she was curious…

Having gone through the chest, they would find quite a selection of fine dresses, nightgowns and unmentionables.

“This is positively outrageous.” Anne would say, looking at the particularly sultry nightgown. She would hold it against Cecilia, for curiosity sake.

“No, you are positively outrageous!” Cecilia would blush, as Anne would do that – then smiling “You know, that’s not how people try clothing out.”

“Well, why don’t you show me how people try on clothing, then?” Anne would narrow her eyes a bit, putting down the challenge. 

“Mmm… I have a better idea.” Cecilia would giggle “Let’s take a break.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Katarina – who would be trying to get a whole day’s rest in her bed, would hear… weird noises, coming from upstairs. That was kind of odd, wasn’t that the attic?

She would try to cover her head with a pillow at first, but eventually gave up and would get dressed and go check what the deal was – she suspected there were perhaps some pests in the attic. If there were, she had to show them away. For some reason Fou would warn her to stay out of there, but she wouldn’t really bother – surely she could deal with a few pests.

Having ascended to the attic, Katarina would look around – spotting the source of noise. She would open her mouth and would sloooowly descend back. Slowly go back to her room. Slowly get back into her bed. Slowly put her head under the pillow. And then she would attempt not to think about what she saw.

**_~ Sophia and Mary ~_ **

“Hm, I must say – your story is really shaping up, but ugh… should I bring up the fact it’s clearly based on us?” Mary would question her friend, after having read through her story – or rather the first draft of it.

“Well, you see Mary – the way I look at it, people will find the story interesting if it has elements of truth to it.” Sophia would claim, smiling.

“This isn’t an element of truth, Sophia… this is the whole truth. Are you sure Katarina will be okay with it?” Mary asked, Sophia really only changed names and some of the scenes to be more dramatic. Way, way, way more dramatic – Katarina did not in fact fight any bullies with swords at any point… as far as Mary was aware.

“Well, if someone ever finds out about Katarina and then talks about it... don’t you think people would laugh and question why they are quoting a published story?” Sophia would retort “I already got permission to go ahead with this, so be at ease.”

“Well… if you say so. But why am I described in such a negative fashion?” Mary would ask, remembering a few gripes she had with the story itself.

“What do you mean?” Sophia would ask

“Why does the story always mention how I’m scheming something?” Mary would clarify

“Because… you are?” Sophia would tilt her head and smile “Not like there is anything wrong with that.”

Mary would cross her arms and huff, pretending to be insulted.

“Mmm… you and Geordo work more and more often as a pair. The whole date setup thing, you let him take the credit – but I am curious… What is so special about Winter’s Kiss? Why was that so important to teach Katarina?”

Mary smiled “Now, now – everything in due time, Sophia.”

“Schemer.”

“Lies. Lies and slander.”

**_~ Alan and Mozart ~_ **

“Louder! Harder! Faster!” Mozart would be yelling, as Alan would be going through the notions on the organ, they were currently practicing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – which would be played for Chiyome’s birthday, as such both of them would be working hard.

“Have you really not considered this special, back when you were alive?” Alan would ask, slightly annoyed – Mozart did like to rub it in a little bit, how casually he wrote all of these masterpieces, but in a way it gave a little insight into his life… which was colorful, to say the least.

“Just a little serenade.” Mozart would grin “Don’t get too distracted from playing, it’s not perfect yet.”

“Oh, shut up – at this point I can play this in my sleep.” Alan would retort, rolling his eyes. “Besides, Der Holle Roche would fit her better” 

“Really then? In that case, as I said – harder, faster! Put some passion into it and maybe we’ll practice both!”

“I can put some passion up yours!”

“I would like to see you try!”

The two would argue, the music drowning out their shared insults to each other.

**_~ Nicol and Blackbeard~_ **

“You still must be careful, as to not provoke any sort of war. We still want to keep the moral high ground.” Nicol would say, showing everything they talked about on the map “And no passenger vessels, as should go without saying.”

“Hai hai, don’t go too harsh on the old buccaneer, Nicol.” Teach would wave it off “I know my stuff and pissing off Master is the last thing I have on my list. Least she takes away my harem and what would be the point of living at that point.”

Nicol would look at Teach, not saying anything.

“Okay, okay – she will take away my crew. Same thing! C’mon pal, you yourself eyeing to be in one, don’t give me that look.” Blackbeard would pull on his own beard a bit.

“How many of your crew would violently object, if they heard you say that?” Nicol asked, out of curiosity.

“All of them? I hired some right nice lasses, I have absolute confidence they would deck me in the face if they heard me say that.” Teach would laugh, he would not settle for anything less “Ugh… don’t tell them I said that, by the way.”

“Of course.” Nicol would say, he still didn’t understand the man in front of him. His face was a decoy, but he didn’t make it easy on himself. Was it a matter of pride, or something along those lines?

“Oh, I did pick one of these here books for your sister.” Teach mentioned, taking out a book from one of his coat’s large pockets “Supposedly it's not out in Sorcier yet, so let her have a go at it.”

Nicol would nod, appreciatively – he did at least figure out one thing. Blackbeard had a soft spot for sentimental things. 

**_~ Lily and Chiyome ~_ **

“I said I’m sorry…” Chiyome would let out an exasperated sigh, as they were waiting for their laundry to dry. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

“Well, don’t just pop out behind me and ask if I had all of those files ready to go!” Lily would object, she was… not as uneasy, being around Chiyome nowadays – but the girl had a nasty habit of appearing out of thin air and scaring the spirit out of Lily.

“Fair enough. And as I said, I’m sorry. But, at the same time – it was rude to spill the tea right into my face like that. It was hot.” Chiyome would mention.

“I did it in panic!” Lily would insist further.

“Panic? So you would get startled, had time to look at me – take out the spoon out of your tea, lift the cup and then chuck its content in my face, all while in panic?” Chiyome would ask, sounding more and more amused.

“Yes, exactly.” Lily would nod, vigorously “I’m glad we are in agreement here.”

“You’re still mad, aren’t you.” Chiyome would finally say.

“Am not….” Lily would look away “Well, yes – actually I am.”

“It’s been a long time now, come on!” Chiyome would moan out “You can’t dongle that in front of me for the rest of our lives!”

“You wanted to torture me!” Lily would point out the obvious “I find that pretty hard to forgive.”

“Not torture, kill.” Chiyome would correct her “Which happens all the time, mind you. We are heroic spirits.”

“That’s even worse! You know how terrifying you can be?!” Lily would squick “I still have nightmares about it, you know…”

“Well, what do you want me to do? I said sorry already, like a thousand times!” Chiyome would turn away huffing.

“Well, to start off – you will never mention this to Mistress.” Lily would start, as Chiyome would visibly cringe “And second of all, you will stop acting like that whenever I speak of her.”

“Whenever you stop calling her that, I will.” Chiyome would reach out for Lily’s cheeks and would pull on them.

“Gaah! Let me go, you bruuuuute!” Lily would get out of that hold and would push Chiyome slightly “I won’t stop calling her that! It’s what she is for me.”

“I still can’t believe you believed those stupid rumors…” Chiyome would straighten herself “I mean, even if they were true – you are a far cry from Da Vinci, did you really think she would fancy you that way?”

“Well, she fancies you and you are flat as a board too!” Lily would retort, then she would gasp “Oh no… I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!”

“Alright… I see how it is.” Chiyome said, approaching menacingly. Clearly, Lily wanted some noogie time.

It would be rude to deny it to her.

**_~ Asclepius and Da Vinci ~_ **

“Is Chiyome bullying your younger self again?” Asclepius asked, listening to the noises coming from outside. Seriously, for someone with such busy schedules, those two seemed to have a lot of time to spend, yelling at each other.

“Yes, I believe that sounds like that.” Da Vinci would note, as she would finish packing the concoction the two of them made “Should we do something about it?”

“Unlike those two, we still have things to do.” Asclepius would remind Da Vinci “I reckon this should work, it’s not a true truth serum, but hopefully it will be good enough to get our guest… talking. Without further application of force.”

“Mmm, hopefully… I must say, it’s still hard to get to terms with… everything. I suppose I can’t complain, Chaldea did its own share of crimes against humanity, Seraphix… demi-servant experimentation. But it still feels wrong…” Da Vinci would admit, she was thinking about making a protest about it.

“I dislike it myself, but I understand where you are coming from.” Asclepius noted “You happened to join in a turbulent time, I promise Katarina hasn’t… always been forced to do so many questionable things.”

Da Vinci would nod “I’ve heard she used to be different, before everything started getting to her head. Suppose she was like Ritsuka, back in the day… but yeah, don’t worry – I’m not holding it against her, or anything.”

“I suppose I am to blame for that in a large part. But I do not regret that decision. The world will be a better place as a result.” Asclepius would note “And that is the main reason I don’t hold it against her, if you ever wondered.”

“I did… but it makes sense. She could have been living a quiet life, if you just lied a little bit, huh?” Da Vinci would muse “I wonder if she’s mad at you for that.”

“Hm… I doubt it.” the good doctor would answer, after thinking for a moment “She doesn't hold grudges for long.”

“…” Da Vinci would look at him, then reply “Yeah, suppose she doesn’t.”

**_~ Katarina and ??? ~_ **

It felt nice to sleep through the entire day for once, snuggled into layers of soft blankets and fluffy pillows. Not minding some peculiar noises, this was bliss in its pure form. This whole week, Katarina planned to laze about and do ab-so-lu-te-ly nothing, if she could help it. Of course, she suspected her workload would double later, but maybe not - her mother did promise she would handle it all perfectly.

Still, that all could wait – for now, Katarina would just daze off into the sweet embrace of her dreams. Or well, that’s what she was hoping for anyway – but after a while Katarina realised her bed felt a little bit wrong. 

She would open her eyes, to look herself over - her nightgown was on, that’s a good start. Everything else was, not so much - instead of her soft bed and fluffy pillows alongside decadent blankets - the girl found herself on the ground in the middle of a pitch black forest.

“R-really? A nightmare, now? Can we like, postpone this…” Katarina would reach to pinch herself as hard as she could. “Oww!”

What the hell?! She felt that this was definitely quite real. She would immediately call for everyone… but nobody answered.

“W-what?” Katarina would look at her hand, the one which was supposed to have her command seals. It was… empty, in pristine condition - as if it never bore any scars to begin with. “Ha…. aaah…”

Cold sweat would hit her pretty hard, panic would begin settling in. Katarina would proceed to look around, as she would channel mana to her circuits. They felt sluggish, as if something was suppressing them - only adding the fuel to the fire.

“It’s pointless to resist.” she would hear a girl speak to her, her voice echoing through the woods. It was scarily reminiscent of the would be assassin from Quid, however already much scarier. Without outside help she was still just as vulnerable as she was years ago. 

“H-huhaa-ah?” Katarina would twitch, turning around again, having already succumbed to fear gripping at her heart “W-who are you? What do you want?”

“Hm… I am your penance.” A girl with long, blonde hair would appear out of the shadows - as if the space itself would open up to show her “My name is Abigail Williams.”

“Abigail… w-wait… like Salem’s, Abigail Williams?!” Katarina would ask, moving away from the girl, until she felt something grip her legs. She would scream out in panic, as a pair of black tendris would coil around her legs.

She would try to put as much mana as she could into breaking out of that hold, but it was to no avail - they held tight onto her and she would only end up bruising herself.

“It’s impolite to run away from people who are trying to talk to you.’ Abby would say “Not that you can run anywhere, anyway. But still, reaction befitting a coward and a traitor.”

“T-traitor?!? Say what?! I would never!” Katarina was breathing pretty heavily, as she was close to freaking out completely, the only thing preventing her from doing that was her anger at being called a traitor.

“You are going to leave her to die.” Abigail said, looking her in the eyes “Poor Ritsuka… betrayed by you, despite your promise.”

“W-wha-what?! I have done no such thing!” Katarina would realize what this Abigail was the one everyone else spoke of, periodically. She wasn’t a heroic spirit, but she was extremely dangerous...

“You will. Don’t lie to me, I see many things… I am shown many things.” Abby would be talking very slowly, circling Katarina – as another pair of tendrils would grasp at her, taking hold of her arms… 

“T-this is ridiculous! How can you judge me on something I haven’t done yet? Nor would!” Katarina would seethe at her accusations, yes – she had her doubts. Yes, she was afraid - yes she did wish to say no at times. But she would never…!

“There are many threads of fate. There are many versions of you. There are even quite a lot of versions of you who handle heroic spirits. Guess how many I saw where you kept your word?” Abby would speak up, as the appendages would tighten to be quite painful.

‘I… I can’t be responsible for anyone else but myself! You’re hurting me!” Katarina would try to resist, she felt weirdly uncomfortable about the situation in an odd way, as if she was missing something. “If none of them helped, that’s their fault, not mine! Why don’t you punish them?!”

“Because you are responsible for the Ritsuka I care about… and I know you are lying.” Abby would flare up, tightening the tendrils even further - but not hard enough to crush her. 

“Then help me! What do you want?!” Katarina would yell out, grating her teeth “I barely understand how to get through the day most of the time, why am I responsible for all of it?!”

This was stupid. The intense pain aside, those words would hurt on their own too. She felt adamant about keeping her word, yet supposedly the girl in front of her saw it as a lie.

“Everything you need is already available to you. You are just putting it all away, so you can pretend you are giving it your best - waiting it out.” Abby would have a few more tendrils wrap up around Katarina. “Inaction which will go on forever.”

“Everyone is working as hard as they can! I am working as hard as I can! What have you done?! How dare y...!” Katarina would finally lose it, before the tendrils would crush at her again - the wave of pain hitting her and knocking the wind out of her sails. She would cough up, what appeared to be real blood - the taste sure was very real. “You’re not even listening, are you…”

It was impossible to argue against someone who wasn’t listening… especially if the only answer they would give violence. Was she going to die this young again?

The tendrils around her would go into motions, spinning around and around - Katarina finally would realise why it felt so wrong, causing another wave of repulsion to her predicament. 

“Bad touch, bad touch!” this time, as she freaked out - Abigail would stop the tendrils from moving further.

“Even now, you don’t take this seriously… I should just punish you.” Abby would look at her, trying to maintain a neutral face. She pushed that last thing too far, she knew that much.

“And then what?” Katarina managed to ask as the tendrils began to simply choke her “If I die...who will… help them… you… idiot.”

With those words, she would pass out, as Abigail would loosen the choke hold. She felt awful. Katarina was right, after all – she was an idiot and a liar at that. 

She knew Katarina wasn’t lying. That she wasn’t a coward. It’s just, she would fail anyway.

It was simply an impossible task.

That is, unless some rules would be… broken.

“I suppose it’s time to return her….” Abby said, bitterly referring to the presence which filled her, made her who she is. 

“She is ours now.”

“Cut the bullshit.” Abigail would reply violently. 

“Foolish child… has it not sunk in yet? Your despair is what we were after.”

“I said… cut… the… bullshit.” Abigail would insist, seeds of doubt springing in her head. She already went this far, oh God, please don’t let this be for naught.

“Or else? What is it you going to do? Was it not your Rhizome which brought her soul to our realm?”

“How… could… you... I… you lied...” Abigail would finally panic, this wasn’t supposed to turn out like that. Yes, motivating Katarina through violence was… perhaps a condemnable act, even for her - but it said so itself, it had to be done!

“Naive child. I do not lie. For her to reach the thread of fate you so desire, just making her angry is not enough. She will suffer and so will you.”

Abigail would let out a sign of relief, she hated the being she had to live with now more than ever. “Wait… was this not enough?”

“You merely angered her beyond reason. But her decision was made long ago, she still lacks the means. Open the gates. The Dreamlands hold what she needs.”

“Will she survive there…?” Abby would unleash her true form, preparing to open the gate.

“Yes, she will survive. No, she will not survive the same person.”

“... those are my sins, then. Add them to the pile.” Abigail said, as she would open the gate and saw Katarina plunge into the dreamlands. “I wonder if she will ever find it in her heart to forgive this.”

“Forgive? Yes. Forget? No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a relatively large one, if a little bit crammed. I often myself do not like when the story goes into a completely different setting, for a whole bunch of chapters - as such, it sill be a singular chapter deal, thingie mabob.
> 
> Also to explain Abby's motivation - there is nothing Katarina can do, reasonably - to save Ritsuka. Not even with all the help she is given. They just don't have enough time, while the time flows differently in INS, there is still a relatively hard time limit for Shadow Border recovery... and current pace is not fast enough to meet it. All of the projects would take decades to implament.   
> (I also have no desire to write out a decade worth of story, sorry for that ^^)
> 
> But, when next time we see - it will be a different kind of adventure!
> 
> P.S. - the eldritch god which posesses Abigail is Yog-Sothoth. Which exists outside of traditional space/time - as such, they would be perfectly aware that must be done in order for events to take place in the way Abigail wished. As long as it serves their purpouse, also.


	18. Chapter 15 - Sleeping In Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place right after the last interlude featuring Katarina and a certain foreigner possesed by an eldritch god.  
> Consider this as an optional mini story, which might get expanded on in the future.

_**///Please refer to the last section of “Interludes and Examinations Vol 2”, in case you have not done so already///** _

Katarina would wake up to find herself in a freefall… the literal way. As in, she was falling fast – from the sky, towards the ground. 

As she realised that’s what was going on, the eldest of Claes children would start screaming her lungs out in panic – she was not alone in that regard, to her surprise.

Alongside here, there were five other girls – which looked suspiciously like herself, falling by her side. Three of them were also screaming alongside her, while one looked passive… and one somehow was having a grand time.

Katarina was so shocked at the sight she would forget to scream, as she would observe the weirdest thing - those girls were her mirror copies, apart from a few subtle differences. What the hell was going on? Did she finally go insane from...

She did not finish that thought, as Katarina would feel sudden resistance from something soft and elastic – as she would get sent upwards by the mysterious trampoline which cushioned her fall. The other girls were not so lucky, having landed on trampoline by its sides - as such, they would all get sent off into the horizon, leaving Katarina all alone - bouncing up and down.

Well… that was a thing.

* * *

After bouncing up and down on what actually turned out to be a giant mushroom cap, Katarina would finally manage to bounce herself over to the edge of the said humongous mushroom cap. It was a surprisingly difficult process and took a lot of effort – but finally having managed to get to the edge, the last bounce would send her plummeting off the mushroom - straight into the waters below.

It would hurt much more than she anticipated water to hurt - but she figured that was because the mushroom she fell off of was probably taller than a decent sized apartment building. 

“Ugh… I’m so going to throw up.” Katarina would mutter, as she would swim to the shore, if she could call it that. Having gotten on a solid… patch of mud she could loosely call ground, Katarina would just crash for a second - not even minding all the dirt.

She was alive and that was all that mattered. Her whole body ached - not only from her fall just now, but also from being crushed earlier by the mass of tendrils unleashed by Abigail, thankfully her magical circuits haven’t gone anywhere unlike her command seals - so she could use them to heal.

It was a slow, miserable process - she did perhaps decide to crash in the worst possible place possible, but she literally could not go another step without resting. At least she had enough strength not to drown. Having rested enough, Katarina would lift herself up with a groan, looking herself over properly.

Her nightgown was banged up and dirty now, soaked wet as well - a part of it has been torn off, including a part with a few buttons - she could still call herself decent, just. But it was kind of a stretch to say that.

Katarina would then switch her attention to the place around her, an enormous marshland filled with mushrooms just like the one she just jumped off of - if this was a city and mushrooms were high rise buildings, she would definitely be in a metropolis. 

Thankfully, there was no wildlife here - as Katarina was not looking forward to seeing what size any potential animals would be in this place.

Having decided, she was not in any immediate danger - Katarina would walk around a little bit, finding a slightly drier spot to sit at and then she would have a moment of weakness.

She would break into tears, as the reality of her situation would begin settling in, this was some sort of alien world and she was stuck in it, potentially forever. She would look up to the sky, from which she fell and would scream.

“Abigail Williams! Get me out of here!”

She would yell for some time, until her voice would crack - she would stop after that, trying to hold back the tears for now. It was pretty difficult not to cry hysterically, consider this situation. 

She was not a proficient mage in either schools of magic, yes - she had enough knowledge to survive, if she didn’t run into anything stronger then her… but what if she did?

If only she had one of those visual references she made of a summoning circle, maybe she would have been able to get some aid, but - sadly her only possession was a ruined nightgown.

She would double check once again her command seals - no, those were still gone. She tried calling onto them anyway, just in case - but nothing would happen. She was truly, truly alone.

It was about at that time, Katarina cracked and would cry her heart out.

Eventually she would get back to her senses, having cried out all the tears in herself, for now. The only thing she felt now was a will to survive - she was pretty sure Abigail must have put her here to slowly die and despair… 

She would not let her have the pleasure of this. She would survive. She would fight for her survival if she had to.

No matter what.

* * *

First order of business for Katarina would be her clothes - she was barefoot and barely decent in a middle of an enormous marshland. That meant lots of water and less than solid ground. If she didn’t get better protection, she would surely meet a miserable end if not from cold but just from plain old disgust. 

As such, she would head out in search of either small animals of any variety - or at the very least some plants she could fashion into something reasonable. It was a slow process, her movement speed being limited by the circumstances pretty heavily - but she would press on, eventually finding some cattail, to great relief. Not everything in here was alien.

Having gathered some of those, she would begin fashioning some basic felt boots for herself - her first few attempts would end up in a complete disaster, but she would manage eventually. Having sorted that out, she felt immensely more comfortable - they would of course still leak, if she wasn’t careful - but at least she wouldn’t be directly touching anything with her soles. 

Having gotten her new boots, Katarina would gather the stems of these few cattails, before moving forward - she needed to secure a source of food, if she was to survive. For now, this wasn’t perfect - but cattails were edible… in a pinch.

* * *

A few weeks would pass, maybe months… hopefully not years. Time flew weirdly in this realm. Katarina would explore her little corner of the world in that time, she was surrounded by mountains on all sides by one, that one was taken by a rather violent river. Violent enough where she would need a boat or something to make it through. It was a nice enough containment to live in.

She called it a containment, because it was exactly that - like she was a household pet, it had everything she would need to survive into old age, plentiful materials to build shelter, all kinds of different fruit and vegetables she could grow to feed herself with her farming skills and lack of any particularly dangerous beasts.

The thought made her sick - surely her captor wouldn’t be cruel enough to just… let her live in solitude until her twilight years? Katarina already missed everyone dearly, thinking about her friends and family most of the time. Her rage towards Abigail subsided long ago, now the only thing keeping her going was desire to see everyone again.

This…is what exile would have been like, she had to admit - it was awful. This was the kind of fate she was trying so hard to avoid, only to be thrusted into it just like that. At least, she was kind of prepared...

Katarina would end up fashioning a simple hut out of the trees she managed to find, where she would spend her nights - whenever she wasn’t falling asleep outside, yelling into the sky - begging for Abigail or anyone else to let her out.

She supposed it was pathetic, how thoroughly she broke with time - but she didn’t care. She just wanted to see her loved ones, swallowing her pride and dignity was not an issue if there was a chance someone would feel some pity for her and grant her that one wish. And it was an excuse to talk - solitude weighted heavy onto Katarina, more so than she cared to admit. 

But every time the answer was the same - silence. As such she had to survive for now, until she figured a way out on her own.

* * *

Seasons would change, Katarina felt her sanity slipping further. There was no way out, unless she would fashion a boat - something that she was not sure she could do on her own. Still, she would try her best - she did see several blueprints for them in her time working with Blackbeard, so she would just have to try and imagine some parts she didn’t quite recall.

The work itself took at least a few months, even for a little boat she fashioned - Katarina would realise at this point her body was not aging at all, as if frozen in time. 

She wondered, just how long has it truly been - as she was loading up the boat with supplies. She decided she would go with this boat, no matter what followed - she would take it. Even if it would be… something unpleasant.

She simply couldn’t handle the lack of social contact anymore, she had to get back or at the very least find someone to talk to, someone who wasn’t her reflection in the water. Going insane from being lonely and miserable was her only other option - one she did not fancy.

As such, having loaded the newly made boat with supplies - Katarina would board it herself and would push it to the river’s edge - the violent waters would pick her up immediately, carrying her for hours on end - as she would see just how vast this realm was. In the distance, she could swear she saw something move - perhaps there was someone else here after all.

Still, she had a boat to hopefully not crash. She should focus on that.

* * *

One crashed boat later, Katarina would find herself stranded in another part of the world now. She couldn’t go back - not against such a current, so - this was her home now. At last her supplies survived, so she wouldn’t starve to death if it was a less hospitable place then her little cage.

She would walk for what felt like days, until she would finally get the first sight of fields, fields! That means someone here was tilling the land and tending to said fields! The joy of seeing another person’s hard work would fill Katarina, as she would detour into exploring the area - she needed to meet whoever was taking care of this.

It was a challenging search, but eventually she would find a well hidden hunters cabin, with a tough looking wooden door. Katarina would run over to it, bashing her fist against it, only after having done so she would stop herself - realising that was way too rude. She would then simply knock, like a lady.

There was some noise behind the door, as it would swing open. She would see an old man, who reminded her a lot of the old Tom, but much more grizzled. He was missing an eye and was perhaps a little bit more unkempt then Tom, but otherwise – quite close.

The man would look at her and would suddenly shake her hand vigorously. “Oh, he-lo.”

Ah, it was not just a human, but a human who greeted her and shook her hand. He was speaking in broken English, a language which Katarina only understood as far as “hello” and “goodbye”, but it was a living, breathing human being! 

Katarina would shake his hand back just as vigorously, saying “He-l-lo” butchering the greeting even harder then the old man did.

“Ah… you no speak english very well too.”

* * *

He would then invite her in with gestures and after a while of struggling against a language barrier, would perform some sort of magecraft and suddenly the two of them would be able to understand each other. 

Katarina was pretty sure they weren’t speaking English, or Japanese - nor any sort of language from Sorcier, but something entirely different. She figured, it wouldn’t be polite to be asking questions - so she didn’t right now.

His name turned out to be Viktor Stribinski, a lovely, easy going old man. Maybe a little bit straightforward. He would ask her some questions, like how she got here – why was she here, rather obvious things to ask in hindsight.

Having heard her answers, he would answer some of her questions in exchange – apparently the realm she found herself in was called Dreamlands, a lucid imprint on the worlds – a vast, alternative dimension. That explained why it was so humongously vast. 

He would also complain about the fact that her presence had an influence on the world, changing the landscape - so the enclosure she found herself in wasn’t Abigails doing, but Katarina’s presence literally shifting the world some.

Also, he would mention the fact he wanted to fix things back to the way they were before her.

“So you are saying it was a bad idea to leave, Mister Viktor?” Katarina asked, as she would observe the old man packing supplies.

“Bad idea or not, done is done. Everything else… preference. You want to go home, right?” he would pick up a large stick from the wall, it took Katarina a second to realize it was not a stick, but a rifle “Well, we will have to travel around a little bit for that.”

“YES! Y-yes! I very much so want to go home.” Katarina would admit, she was hurting pretty badly in her desire for home. “Is there really a way? Will you help me?”

“Well, not like I have a choice if I want to have the old scenery back…” Viktor would muse, looking her over “You are kind of flimsy however, but you’re a mage yourself? You got any fancy tricks to use, in case things go… boom?”

Viktor would hold his rifle as he would ask that, clearly meaning if they would encounter something dangerous.

“I know Gandr… if that tells you anything.” Katarina mentioned, she did know her magic was slightly weaker in this realm then at home, which suggested at least some people knew about its existence… - lowering it’s mysticism factor.

“Gandr… that’s a good start, not great not terrible” He would look her over “Well, probably should not expect much more from pipsquick. Right, well – let ol’ Stribinski teach you a trick or two later, you find useful.”

* * *

Over the time Katarina traveled with Stribinski, she learned him to be a pretty strange man. Sometimes he felt like a caricature character, in a way. Somewhat violent, but generally meaning well - which didn’t really matter, as she finally wasn’t alone in this place. The eccentric nature of her companion she would handle, just for that.

Besides, he seemed to be a powerful mage in his own right - the runes he would teach her as they traveled were some pretty powerful stuff. Of course, she saw others use runes for minor things - but his runes seemed to perform actual miracles. 

He would wait quite some time, before showing her - after getting to know her some. They would gather some silk and other materials and then he would demonstrate to her a combination of runes Jera and Ingwaz - the moment he was done etching them in the air with his finger, half of the materials in front of her would begin moving on their own - waving themselves into a beautiful, if slightly simple dress.

“W-woah! I didn’t know runes could be used like that! That’s amazing, Mister Viktor!” Katarina would look over the dress, amazed.

She figured that was normal, she never saw runes being used like that - but well, every mage had his own tricks. She felt honored being taught something like that, as it was most likely a highly secretive thing.

“Indeed, quite potent. You try now, go on.” He would motion her, having shown her how to do so. He would also give a few pointers, which were quite in depth.

Having etched the runes, Katarina realized it formed a sort of… independent magic circuitry which would perform the magic, she didn’t have to spend any of her mana directly. The dress she managed to make was actually her own usual dress, which she missed so dearly. “W-woah.”

“You see now, potent - never be needing a tailor again. Good hands, good clothes. Just imagine what you want in your noggin whenever you do this and have the materials at hand. The runes make the world obey, but even they have a limit on how dumb you can be with them.”

“Making the world obey? How can that be possible?” Katarina asked, confused. Still, it felt like an amazing ability, even if she… heard about something like that before, somewhere.

Viktor would shrug. “It was once part of the world as it was. Before humans, before gods. The knowledge has since been lost in time, only to be rediscovered by me for a hefty price. I taught a few students before and am teaching you now, because I feel like it’s why you are here.”

“So how many runes are out there?” Katarina would ask, she would ponder on the words the old man told her. Was that why she was here? To plunder the knowledge from this old man and then go home? Was that some kind of setup?

“There’s over thirty of them, but you mainly need to know the combinations. A fair lot will be up to you to figure out, but I will teach you the basics.” Viktor said, as he would tell her to go into a bush and change. “Not like a pipsquick like you will use most of them, anyway. Besides, still have your psyche to recover.”

* * *

Katarina had no idea what he meant that literally. Apparently, her psyche shattered into six whole pieces –Herself, The Chairman, Studious, Fearless, Spineless and…Happy? Those were the girls she saw when she first arrived here, all that time ago. Katarina wasn’t sure if they would be alive and well, but they would start from the beginning – locating all of them and retrieving them.

They would travel the lands, looking through population centers - which did exist in Dreamlands, much to Katarina’s surprise - they were just sparse. The two of them would make an effective hunting party, really - as they would manage to locate lady Chairman almost immediately - she was working as a judge in a smallcity, putting that gavel smashing skills to use.

That was about the definition of her job, any crime here was solved permanently (By murder) - so she just showed up in an empty courtroom and sort of got paid… it was boring, but made a living - so upon being offered to leave together she would take the offer on the spot.

Studious Katarina would take a little track across what felt the entire continent - to a large library in the capital city of Dreamlands where her studious self landed a cozy job, it was a dangerous place filled with many different beasts, alongside humans… Katarina would try to scratch those memories out of her mind - it was painful to even think of some of those creatures. Still, they would manage to convince her Studious self to come along by threatening to embarrass her in front of everyone if she didn’t. Easy peasy.

Lady Spineless, Lady Happy and Lady Fearless would actually prove to be even easier to find - as they all lived together as a happy “family” in a small little village, farming to all their needs. Happy was taking the role of a child in the family, while the other two were mother and father.

They would tag along mostly because Lady Happy wanted to tag along, so what could her “parents” do about it - abandon her?

“You are all crazy.” Katarina would conclude looking them all over, after gathering them all “But wait, if you are all aspects of personality, who would I be in that case?”

“The idiot.” they all chanted in unison, smiling at her - even her spineless self. “The one who got us into this mess! Lady Pride!”

Katarina would scratch her head - was she really Pride? If she was, she was bad at her job - or maybe she just broken. As fun as it was now that she had companions to travel with, this was… rough - she missed everyone dearly and it never got easier from day to day. Still… maybe there was light at the end of this tunnel yet.

* * *

Having gathered her party, Katarina could now venture forth – between all of the fragments of her personality and Mister Viktor, surely they could accomplish anything?

Supposedly, she could try her luck at throwing herself into the maelstrom of souls - which would spit her out… somewhere. From what Viktor told her about it prior, that would be a bad idea - she would need a waystone to guide her home properly, without any… unfortunate incidents. Like having her soul disintegrated. That would be bad.

Well, Katarina would figure that wouldn’t be a bad goal to put in front of herself - getting that coveted waystone, from wherever it was. By this point, she knew enough about runes that it should be within her reach, as long as Viktor was also there to help.

So having discussed it with the old man, they would head out to the only place they knew there was one - a grand arena city, which supposedly was a bad idea to visit, but she wanted to check it out anyway - so, whatever.

The road there would not have been easy, but in a way – it was fun. 

Days would merge into weeks, weeks into months - as they would make their way. Katarina would learn more and more runes, until she knew them all apart from one - the combinations Viktor said were up to her to discover. Specifically, he refused to share his cleaning combination - the one which made everything spotless and removed the foul stench. She coveted it’s secrets more than anything else in the immediate vicinity. 

If she was to come back home, she would inscribe it all over her clothing and would finally enjoy a little actual breathing air while in social gatherings. 

Still, eventually they would reach an enormous coliseum, which was their destination. It was indeed a whole city, shaped in a way to supplement an arena – where every citizen could easily view the on-goings outside. It was impressive in a way, but also twisted in another - death was a sport here.

Traveling around dreamlands did show Katarina that it was a dangerous realm. Many creatures here were… monstrosities which could wipe down entire armies and boggled her mind, in an unpleasant sort of way… still, she got used to it after a while. It helped that Viktor kicked a fair amount of ass with that rifle of his - just a little rune to add firepower and their enemies did tend to go ka-boom in the most spectacular way.

* * *

The next morning after they arrived, Viktor would pull her aside to teach her the last of the runes. He would show it to her clearly, but only after she would swear to not misuse it, under risk of grave injury.

It was the rune which he simply dubbed as “death”. Supposedly, any mortal struck by it would perish instantly and the only way to survive was to be either tougher than human… or know the rune and etch it in reverse, which he would also teach her.

For some reason, that tickled Katarina’s brain in some way, it should have been familiar… but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Death rune, death rune… where did she hear that. Still, she would thank him once again for teaching her – she just hoped she wouldn’t have a need to use it.

* * *

After that was done, there was only one thing to do – Katarina took everyone else, apart from Viktor and would officially put forward a challenge for the waystone forward.

The monstrosity which was taking the paperwork for it, would look at her with all hundred of its eyes and would ask if she got lost. Katarina would insist she meant this, she felt kind of offended - but then again in all the years she spent in this forsaken realm she hasn’t grown an inch. She would then have exactly one hundred eyes do an eye roll at her, before letting her go ahead with her challenge.

Some preparations later, the six Katarinas would get changed into their new sets of light armor – fashioned and enchanted with runework by Katarina on the spot as they would head out to the middle of the coliseum. The announcer would go wild introducing her.

“And now, our surprise challenger! A visitor from a distant world, I present to you – the ten and a half year old, Katarina Claes and her companions – Katarina, Katarina, Katarina, Katarina and Katarina! And yes, dear citizens – your eyes do not deceive you, it's six copies of the same girl! Can’t ever have too much of a good thing, huh?”

Katarina would just state her age as it was supposed to be in Sorcier, instead of going for that plus however long she spent in here. It totally wasn’t because she lost track of time years ago and couldn’t give her exact age.

“So, since our brave little challenger appears to be way over her head, why don’t we spice it up a little? Instead of the usual fight to the death, let’s have our little contender pick the field of battle between her and her opponents… speaking of those, the first challenger for today is…. Guuuuuug!”

There was lots of cheering, while the narrator would glide over to her with what appeared to be a magical microphone. Katarina would get caught off guard a little bit here, she was expecting a fight. She prepared for a fight. Now she had to pick something else?! So, she would say what came first to her head. “Let it be the battle of songs!”

Fighting and singing were really some of her only hobbies, nowadays - so she felt her chances were good here. 

There would be… silence, then murmuring as she said that. Did…. Did she do something wrong?

It would hit her only after Gug himself stepped out onto the arena – it was a right monstrosity. Two feet and a half across with enormous talons, it’s two pink eyes shone at her in disapproval as it’s enormous maw would be making inaudible noises. If Katarina had to guess, this creature could consume a hundred of little Katarinas in one bite if it wanted to. It also, quite evidently, couldn't sing.

Having presented herself in front of Katarina, the creature would pound at the arena’s floor – pouring magic into it to create dirt, which Gug would then fling at Katarina – covering her from head to toe. It would then leave the arena, clearly angry at her choice of competition.

“Aaaand we have a victory by forfeit!” the narrator would buzz in the same positive tone, as the crowd would boo Katarina. She felt awful, she of course had no idea what Gug had no ability to sing whatsoever, but still… she now understood the whispers of disapproval she could hear. 

That would have been a pretty cool fight, if she had to guess - shame they were treating her like a kid. Or maybe it wasn’t a shame, Viktor wasn’t backing her up - who knew if she could even take all of these monstrosities on her own.

“You stink.” Lady Happy would note, as she would help shake off some of the dirt off of Katarina, as the announcer would then announce round two, apparently that one would be fought by a Shan, whatever that was. Well, sure – maybe they also couldn’t sing, but surely they could…

“I shall challenge them to a friendly set of juggling!” Katarina would set forth that particular challenge, surely anyone could juggle?! Yet another wave of murmuring followed. What was it this time?!

Well, as it turned out – Shan was just a name for an enormous insect race from Shaggai, which while sentient – clearly had no capacity to juggle anything with any efficiency. This time, Katarina got off lightly - only some dust was blown into her eyes, she felt like she was in the middle of a bad joke.

Still, her next opponent has caused quite a wave of cheering among the crowd, so surely they could participate in anything?! Kata rina would think long and hard and declared, against her next opponent – the mysterious Gleeth, a staring challenge.

The crowd would let out a disgusted gasp at her. Okay, what in the world?! SERIOUSLY?! What was it, a blind guy?!

Even the narrator would sort of give her the stink eye “And now, I present to you – the BLIND patron of our arena – Gleeeeth!”

Oh, you have had to be shitting her.

* * *

The entity which would present itself in the arena was… a tall, four horned creature… it was something that was, but wasn’t – the only thing Katarina knew for sure, it was not meant to be, not meant to be seen by a human eye.

In fact, she had a difficult time looking at her opponent, it was as if she was supposed to go insane any moment… but then deep inside, she realized she already was nuttier than a bag of squirrels. Still, every fiber of her being said - it was time to panic.

It would just stand there, ominously – as if contemplating if it should tear her to shreds, for such an insult. Katarina was struggling to admit it, but she was losing a staring contest against someone not only blind, but lacking eyes completely. It was honestly, quite terrifying.

Eventually, the narrator would sigh “Well, I suppose our little challenger did pull a quick one on us folks. How rude of her. Still, a win is a win and a prize is a prize…”

Katarina would feel a tough stone with blue markings appear in her hand, this was the waystone, she figured…. For some reason, she felt nervous - as the air in the arena would start getting colder.

“But now that our little guest has won her prize – a friendly reminder she is no longer protected from… ah, let us say - a displeased crowd.” The Narrator would hint, quite obviously that perhaps Katarina and her other selves should vacate themselves.

They would run - fast. By this point, Katarina knew better then let any eldritch abominations get a jump on her - so later, suckers! Thankfully, Viktor was there to put his formidable skills in slowing down the crowd which was eager to tear Katarina into pieces and with his help they did manage to flee unscathed.

* * *

“I must say girl, what the hell is your problem.” Viktor would scold her “Have I not taught you the death rune for you to FIGHT your opponents, instead of making yourself look like an idiot?”

‘Wha… t-they said to pick a challenge, I didn’t know fighting was an option! Not like, violently fighting that is!” Katarina would defend herself, now that she thought about it… maybe that would have been the smarter solution.

“Gah, whatever. You’re alive and stone in hand… so, this will be our last journey together. Let us travel to the maelstrom.” Viktor would muse “Before someone catches up to us.”

“Is it really… almost over?” Katarina asked, trying to think this journey through. Gosh, she has been stuck here for a while…

“Aye, almost over.” Viktor would confirm, he would miss the little lass – even if she was somewhat of a pain in his backside at times. Most of the time.

* * *

It would take one last final journey to get to the dead middle of the dreamlands, into what appeared to be an enormous maelstrom of soul energy – going… places. As they all would stand on the edge before the whirling abyss, Katarina would grip tightly onto the waystone.

“Well, now all you have to do girly, is to have a clear image of where you want to go… you have that well in head, I assume?” Viktor asked, looking her over one last time. “Even after all this time?”

“Y-yeah! But… what about you? Are you not coming with us?” Katarina asked, looking at Stribinski one more time herself. She would miss him, if he would stay behind.

“Aye, it’s not my place to go… besides, only one stone.” he would wave it off, grinning “Still, you need to have others jump in first, least you will arrive before you all merge back together.”

“You heard the man, girls! Off you go!” Katarina said to her other selves, looking them all over one more time too. As much as they were all a pain in HER butt, they were too companions in arms.

The first to jump in would be her Happy self, making a “whee” noise as she went in. Lady Chairman would follow, then Lady Studious. Lady Spineless would choose not to do so, until Lady Fearless would ever so gently nudge her over the edge, before jumping in herself. “Well… I suppose that is it, then. Thank you for everything, Viktor!”

Katarina would give Viktor one last hug, before taking the stone tightly and jumping into the maelstrom herself. She did not see as the old man would etch one final rune towards her – the oblivion rune.

Even after all these years, she never figured who he was – an accomplishment in it’s own right. But – too much time passed for her to return home sane, too many memories darkened by the presence of the eldritch. If her memory was not erased, she would most likely go insane on arrival - something he wished to avoid.

As such, everything was purged - apart from choice little bits, including her experience with runes. Those will still serve her well, in her next life.

“Goodbye, Katarina Claes and thank you too. May you never find your way here again.” Viktor said, extending his hand for a couple of ravens to land. “Look over her, you two, yes? She no speak english very well, get into trouble all the time, ya?”

The ravens would exchange a knowing look between each other, before following Katarina into the maelstrom. Having done that, Viktor would head home at last.

He needed his long, long sleep.

* * *

Katarina would open her eyes, feeling… exhausted. That was odd, wasn’t she just sleeping? She would lift up her head from under her pillows, as consciousness would slowly return to her. Oh, right… she wasn’t sleeping? She was… trapped somewhere? Or was it just a dream?

Looking around, it was her room – just like she left it shortly before going back to rest. Judging by the noise, Anne and Cecilia were still going hard at each other, in a perfectly innocent way, of course.

Surely she didn’t make it all up? Katarina would try etching a rune which stood for silence on her bed frame, the pleasant blue glow would appear behind her finger – just like she recalled it should.

So it was not a dream…? She was confused. She only knew that, whoever Abigail Williams was – she was a jerk. After a bit of thinking, Katarina would etch another rune – Berkano, for sanctuary into her bed, before going to sleep. She would resolve this situation later – for now, her well deserved week of rest.

She earned it.

* * *

_**Somewhere in another dream.** _

“Ritsuka… wake up, for me.” A girl by the name of Abigail would drag the person she held so dear into yet another dream, just like she did with Katarina just now. The young woman with the orange hair would twitch, as she would look around.

“Where… ah, Abigail. So, dreaming then.” Ritsuka would smile cautiously, trying not to look too worried - failing at it. “You came to say goodbyes, then?”

“...” Abigail would look at Ritsuka, shaking her head “No. I am here to make sure you don’t have to tell goodbyes.”

“Abby... “ Fujimaru would smile, reaching out to pat her “I know that Da Vinci had some sort of plan, but I’m afraid it is too late. Meuniere already told me that even if it works out, we don’t have energy to perform an exit - no matter how miraculous. You just have to accept it, at this point.”

“... I refuse.” Abby said “There is still a way forward - I made one, just for you.”

“Abigail… What have you done?” Ritsuka would ask, concerned - those were not encouraging words. 

“I was a bad girl, Ritsuka… I did an awful thing, but…” she would extend her hand forward, offering a scrap of a nightgown or something to the person she so dearly treasured. “Take this, perform one last summoning… the rest will sort itself out.”

Fujimaru would take the odd scrap of clothing, examining it. 

“Abigail… why would you do that…” Ritsuka had no idea what Abigail did, but she refused to look her in the eyes - she knew her well, it must have been something truly awful.

“Because… It was either do that or end up losing you. I’m sure father will be most displeased with me breaking so many rules, but what are rules if you don’t break them.” Abby would smile radiantly, trying not to look too awkward. 

Ritsuka would sigh and smile “Okay. In that case, I will trust you. Give me a push to wake up? There isn’t much time left before the power runs out - I just thought it would be much more pleasant to go out sleeping.”

“Of course. Wakey wakey, Ritsuka-chan~”

With those words, Ritsuka would wake up - clutching onto the piece of clothing she got from Abigail. She would rush to the spiritron suitcase, while the power still held - they had no connection to a layline, but a catalyst was supposed to work even without one, as long as it was strong enough.

Ritsuka wondered, just who would answer the call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~Katarina Claes~~~  
> New Personal Skill: Primordial (Primeval) Runes   
> The ability to issue commands to the world, these runes have existed long before concepts of “humanity” or “divinity”. Lost to time, they were discovered again by a certain god - who sacrificed his eye in exchange for great wizdom. Unlike the deriving runes, which are popular in magecraft nowadays - these are runes second only to the one who taught them to Katarina - for the student may never surpass the master when it comes to these.  
> It is said that Scathach who herself was taught by the source could build entire cities and civilizations if she wanted, utilizing them - or doom entire civilizations, if she chose. (As shown in the events of Summer 1 in FGO, where she ends up building stuff up to and including a Space Shuttle with power of runes.)  
> One does not have to be a mage to utilize these, however one must be taught by someone who possesses the skill - the strength of runes is diluted with each passing generation.   
> tl:dr; among lots of "bullshit" abilities in Fate/Nasu lore - Primordial Runes are firmly up there. 
> 
> ~~~ Chapter Notes ~~~  
> So, this chapter has been a bit difficult to write. I had an inkling of the idea how this would go, back when i started the story - but I never knew I would actually get here. To explain a little bit, while the events on paper had no effect apart from granting Katarina yet another powerful boon - she did earn something, while adventuring into dreamlands. It’s just, the consequences of decade old exile will not take their toll on her. 
> 
> If you know who the name is a reference too without using Google - you get a cookie. 
> 
> Starting next chapter, the story will be slowly returning to its more lighthearted, humorous tones - as I enjoy writing that more, but there still will be elements of adventures - mainly Lostbelt stuff.  
> As a final note - this chapter could have been a story in itself, but I chose to skip large portions of it - mainly because I might want to write it out one day. But, no promises - if any of you wish to do so for some reason, feel free to give it a try tho!  
> Much love, Daawnily <3


	19. Chapter 16 - And the Sky Full of Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to finally conclude for this arc, events in the world begin to unravel - slowly, but surely.

It wouldn’t take long until the little vacation would run its course – seven days wasn’t an incredible amount of time, but it was a nice change of pace. Katarina would take some time from that to take Maria out on that little lesson-date she prepared for her – as it was only fair.

Her lesson indeed has been on the topic of romantic places, specifically – Maria would just take Katarina around a fine selection of locations, all of which were absolutely fantastic – picking all of them must have been the part where she needed help from Cecilia and Miri, after all - three heads worked much better than one in that regard. 

The most outstanding of them all would be of course the one which was hardest to get to – it was by one of the largest lakes in the whole Sorcier – just nearby by where the future water treatment plant would be built, eventually. Maria would lead Katarina through a series of caves – until they would find themselves on a little shore of the lake, it was not a place one could access from any other point – only through that singular path.

“Woah… it’s like a secret little getaway…” Katarina would sound amazed, as she would look around – it was the perfect spot for what she had in mind.

Maria would nod happily “Me and Da Vinci discovered it when making preparations for the future construction, whenever that will begin. You can see the foundation over there, if you squint. I must say, it’s… quite a view here, especially at night. I think it would work perfect for a date… or two.”

Katarina would smile, as she would walk over to Maria.

“Well, in that case – we should make sure it’s suitable. Will you help me with that, Maria?” Katarina asked, not really meaning it the way it went across – at least until she realized how she would sound just now. Having blinked at her own stupidity, she would just roll with it – after all, why not.

Maria would just blush in turn, after hearing Katarina’s request – she would then nod, there were likely some things they would have to work out in here as they went along - but the idea sounded nice anyway.

They would begin with a dance, making sure there was enough solid ground to really go for it – Katarina would then call onto Da Vinci who was in her spirit form up until now, serving as their bodyguard – to help fix the little problems with uneven terrain. They would test it as Da Vinci fixed it up – eventually the preparations would be complete and it would be more than suitable.

“Y-you have gotten really good at leading, Katarina.” Maria would note, it has been some time since last time they danced and she had to admit – if before Katarina was good at playing the role of a suitor in a dance, now she really made Maria’s heart beat – even if they had… unwanted company.

Of course she knew why Da Vinci was there, but still – everyone else got a real one on one time… but Maria would throw those thoughts out of her head pretty quick. No point being a jealous loser.

“Thank you! You’re doing great yourself.” Katarina would compliment her back, as they would finish their dance “Now, let’s see…”

They would continue testing - making sure there was enough space for everything and for how well the music would sound. Having been satisfied with everything, the only concern was water.

Katarina would note the need to keep all preparations here on a little bit of elevation – as it was a pretty large lake, there could be little waves and rain could ruin everything if she wasn’t careful.

Still… as far as spots for a romantic date went – this was the best she could hope for.

* * *

With everyone’s lessons out of the way, as well as other preparations done – Katarina was finally ready!... to get to other business, which she was putting off for way too long - summoning more heroic spirits.

Yes, it wasn’t particularly difficult - but she was fairly sure she would hit a limit eventually - so she wanted to be prepared for sure. They even prepared a look alike mask and everything, specifically wanting to summon Hundred Personas.

It… did not turn out quite like that, however. The catalyst worked absolutely wonderfully… at summoning literally every other Hassan first. With first attempt came Hassan of the Cursed Arm, who - despite a little bit of a demonic look to himself was a relatively nice guy. 

After would follow Hassan of Serenity, who Katarina found out was so poisonous - they literally had to buy an entire building for her to live in solitude, until they could figure a way to let her interact with the outside world. She was also surprisingly nice, for someone who was an assassin and so poisonous - just being in her vicinity could kill you.

The third servant to crash the party however… Katarina wasn’t even quite sure how to describe the black clad knight, who would tower over everyone at something over two meters in height - swinging a sword the size of a normal human being with ease.

The First Hassan-i Sabbah, also known as “The Old Man of the Mountain” was someone who would instill fear into practically anyone with just his looks - every other Hassan upon seeing them sure went into a short lived panic. Still, he was also - surprisingly nice, if somewhat straightforward with his words of disapproval - he also said he didn’t mind being referred to as whatever Katarina wished to call him, so he would be dubbed “Gramps”. 

Only after having summoned all of these, the mask would finally serve as a catalyst to the one Hassan Katarina wanted to summon with it to begin with, Asako - or Hassan of the Hundred Personas. 

At first she was about to be annoyed at being summoned by a little girl, but she held her words when the Great Founder would show himself - his eye sockets lit up as if anticipating a grave offense. 

To put it bluntly, Katarina now had plenty of assassin class servants to assign to all sorts of jobs, as she pleased - which was good, as she needed lots of help to get things going.

* * *

In the end, Hundred Personas would be the one who would dedicate one Persona each as a bodyguard for the majority of Claes Family and extended circle of Katarina’s friends - with the exceptions being Chiyome and Lily, as they needed more dedicated protection.

Lily would get Cursed Arm Hassan as her own bodyguard, because - despite technically being a heroic spirit, she was probably flimsier than Katarina and any assasination attempt would most likely leave her dead… or pose great risk to her clothing and reputation, whichever came first.

And Chiyome… obviously - she could protect herself, but Katarina wanted to take no chances, so this job would be handled exclusively by Gramps, who would be told to guard her as he would guard Katarina. Thankfully, he also had Presence Concealment almost as powerful as Chiyome’s, so he would be able to perform this job without giving away the fact he was performing it.

The rest of Hundred Personas would be sent off to help work in all of the different fields they needed help in, mostly manufacturing and construction - after all, those hundred different skill sets would come in most handy. With that done, there were no outstanding things for Katarina to attend to.

It was good timing too, as Chiyome’s tenth birthday would arrive soon after. Of course she wasn’t exactly ten years old, being a heroic spirit – but officially, it was her tenth, as such it was just as large of an event as Katarina’s birthday.

This time however, instead of a Crown sponsored holiday it was a more “proper” noble event, which still accepted guests from all over the kingdom – to no real surprise, of course. Well, Katarina was a little bit surprised – but anyone who was paying attention at this point wouldn’t be.

Katarina was popular, yes – she was considered a prodigy – yes. But Chiyome had one little thing going for her, which Katarina never gave thought to – she was not officially engaged.

So, what happens when you have an “available” young lady with an immaculate reputation, who is stunningly beautiful, bar her one covered eye and skilled – from an extremely powerful and influential family, who herself happens to be filthy rich even without her family’s riches?

Well, suitors start popping out of the blue, like pests. Annoying, annoying, annoying pests.

Chiyome would obviously tolerate them, as she had a reputation to uphold – she even did so relatively easily, but Katarina has never before grinded her teeth as hard as she did that evening. She would give a stink eye to absolutely every suitor who would be putting himself out there to Chiyome, in hopes of catching her fancy. 

Honestly, if it wouldn’t cause a massive scandal – she would go over and kiss her right there, in front of everyone and tell them all to beat it… but she concluded that it would be reckless, even for her. 

She still did tell Gramps he was free to impale anyone on his sword if they tried to do something uncough towards Chiyome in private. 

Having done that, she would consider – would she react that way if someone tried to steal, say – Maria from her? Or Mary? Or Keith.

…

The answer was yes.

Katarina would consider her feelings for everyone, could she really hog everyone to herself? 

Yes, obviously – but she would have to figure out a way to justify it. Maybe going along with being seen as a pervert WOULD be a good idea after all, huh.

Was that why Geordo was so insistent on that bit?

“Well, don’t you have a long face, Katarina.” Keith would speak up quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder “Looking over the vultures, I see?”

Katarina would look at her little brother and nod. He had approximately the same expression, if she had to guess - she didn’t look into a mirror yet to see what kind of a grimace she was wearing.

“Yeah, it’s pretty unsettling – but she’s handling it with amazing grace.” Keith would sigh “That’s approximately how everyone else looked from my point of view, at some point. Well, maybe not quite that bad – but you get my point.”

Katarina would roll her eyes slightly, cracking the tiniest of smiles.

“Well, let them daydream, I suppose.” Katarina would mutter “Let’s go get something to munch on Keith, before the dancing starts.”

* * *

The party would drag on for seemingly an eternity, especially the dancing part – as Chiyome wasn’t engaged she would not have a convenient excuse to avoid the ever so wanting dancing partners from the male side – so Katarina had a pleasure of watching her dancing with all of them.

Now, Katarina knew she wasn’t the most objective person right now – but most of these suitors sucked, their posture and movements were bad – Chiyome had to do most of the work for both of them to appear gracious most of the time, she absolutely did not deserve this. 

This was one hundred percent reliable not at all skewed perception of the events soured the mood quite a bit for Katarina. Still, eventually it would be over and with the help from everybody Katarina would manage to smuggle Chiyome out for a carriage ride.

* * *

“And where would we be going, Katarina?” Chiyome asked, slightly confused – for all of her spying and mind games and trickery, everyone did manage to get this by her radar, for once. 

Mary would pat herself on the back for this one for years going forward – even the unwanted attention from the Quid incident didn’t blow the lid open on this scheme. 

“Now now, everything will be clear in due time.” Katarina smiled, giving her the best smug smile she could muster – this was going to be awesome!

“Well… I don’t mind, of course… but still, I am curious. You sure you can’t tell me?”” Chiyome would finally give Katarina a faint blush – it was nice to be the center of attention for people you cared about.

“You’ll see soon!” Katarina would promise, she just hoped it would go as planned.

The way to the coveted spot would take quite a bit of time, old man Sankey thankfully wouldn’t say a word about the destination – just as he promised, even when asked by Chiyome in passing – Katarina never seen her being so… impatient about something, but she figured that was natural.

They would however arrive eventually, Katarina would then offer Chiyome another eye cover, just like the one she always wore before.

“Wow, uh… going all out on the mystery? Alright then… I’ll bite.” Chiyome would take it and put it on, even a servant needed eyes to see after all “So, where are we going?”

“Just a little bit more, you’ll see for yourself.” Katarina would then guide Chiyome along going through the path Maria showed her, making sure not to lead her sister off the edge somewhere. So far so good, everything was going according to plan.

“Contractor, I shall guard the entrance.” Gramps would politely communicate to Katarina through their link - leaving those two alone - he did not approve, but still wished to give them their privacy.

* * *

Meanwhile, everyone else would have arrived a little bit off to the side of the lake, specifically to the construction site of the water processing plant – the work hasn’t begun quite yet, but it was a suitable place to observe the happenings, as long as you had the right kind of equipment.

“Okay, everyone has their binoculars?” Da Vinci asked, having manufactured enough for everyone with Lily’s help. Of course, Lily was the only one out of the whole bunch who objected to such intrusion on the private life of her mistress, but even she was bribed eventually – after all, Da Vinci knew which buttons to press for herself better than anyone else.

There was a wave of confirmations, as everyone would get comfortable.

“Well, let’s make sure it all goes well. Break a leg, master!” Mozart would mutter under his breath, he did enjoy a little opportunity to leave his music workshop – which he hasn’t left in a little bit now. 

“Okay everyone, remember – we are not getting involved in this and this is never leaving our lips.” Luigi would note to everyone, sternly.

“Unless they get any obscene ideas. I am still doing an intervention if they go too far.” Miri would note to her husband. She was fine with a lot of things, but that? No, they would have to wait until they were of age for that.

After that, they would just proceed to enjoy the show.

* * *

Having arrived at the little shore converted into the perfect date spot, Katarina would remove both eye covers from Chiyome and smiled at her. She still never understood why she bothered to hide her eye, even if it did look unnatural - it just made her even more beautiful.

“Happy birthday.” Katarina would motion around the place, as Chiyome would take the atmosphere in.

Under the beautiful night sky, candles would be levitating in the air – held in place by magic. There was a table setup for two as well as a little place to dance and there was even a music instrument tucked away a little bit away from the prying eyes.

“Katarina…. Is that a…” Chiyome would gasp, blushing hard at this point – she had a suspicion she would prepare something, but she didn’t anticipate a whole private date off in a secluded spot. 

“Mmm, save blushes for later, ChiChi.” Katarina smiled, as she would recall her training and would give it her all. “For now, my lady – would you please gift me a dance?”

“T-that’s my role!” Chiyome would object, flustered as she looked at Katarina who was quite rudely stealing her role as a suitor in their relationship. “Yes, I would love to.”

Chiyome would take Katarina’s hand and they would move to the more appropriate spot for this, having done so the two would burst into dance – Katarina would lead quite confidently, having gotten plenty of practice in. Chiyome would easily keep pace with her leading, but she was enjoying herself a great deal – that much was obvious.

They would dance to their heart’s content – their reflections dancing alongside them in the water nearby, it would sure make for an unforgettable memory. Having finished with dancing, Katarina would sit Chiyome down, before going over to procure the violin she planned to use for today. It wouldn’t be her instrument of choice, but sneaking a piano here would have been a logistical nightmare.

Chiyome would look over to Katarina, who would get comfortable and would then say “And this, I dedicate to you today. It’s a piece I enjoyed a lot in my previous life, it was written by Ludwig Van Beethoven.”

She wouldn’t tell her the pain she had to go through to actually learn it, as Mozart had to teach her and he took… great offense in being asked to teach her a work which was not his. In fact, he was so surprised by the request he had a little case of spit take.

The piece in question, the one Katarina would begin playing was Beethoven’s Symphony Number 5 – the violin would sound loud and clear, as she would pour her soul into her performance.

It was not a symphony Chiyome ever had a chance to listen to, among many artists in Chaldea there was no Beethoven and no one of the musically inclined servants would play anything else but their own work, unless asked to do so specifically. As such, it was her very first time and she had to say – it was absolutely beautifully performed.

* * *

“What in the hell is that?” Alan would ask looking at Mozart, as the music would reach them “I have never heard you do that one.”

“It’s not my piece, why would I perform something that is not mine?” Mozart would huff, turning away.

“Wait, you know other people’s work as well?! And you never told me, you bellend?” Alan would fume.

“Of course I know other people’s work – I know literally everything there is to know about music! And no, I will not teach you any.” Mozart said adamantly, he already lost an argument on that to his Master, he was not losing to Alan as well.

As the two would argue, everyone else would just listen – it was their first time hearing it too, well – perhaps not Da Vinci’s, she did listen to all sorts of music back at Chaldea after all.

“It’s such a beautiful piece…” Maria would note “I had no idea Katarina could play that thing so well. I only heard her play on a piano.”

“I bet you anything she took lessons specifically for this occasion.” Mary would note “Now I’m jealous…”

“Me too…” Sophia would sigh wistfully “Our anniversaries can’t come up soon enough.”

* * *

As Katarina would finish the piece, she would put down the violin and come over to Chiyome to have that romantic candlelit dinner, everything was prepared and preserved with runes by Katarina herself.

“That was lovely Katarina… thank you.” Chiyome said as she would look over the food her sister took out of storage, she never knew Da Vinci knew runes to store food… in fact, didn’t they usually struggle with long term food storage back in Chaldea?

“Hehe… well, let’s eat!” Katarina smiled, she wanted to save the best for last – so the food had to get out of the way. They would mingle and enjoy each other's company as they would have their food, so far the date has gone on perfectly.

Having gotten food out of the way, Katarina would help Chiyome up and would lead her to the very edge close to the water – where the moon gave the most light.

“And once again… happy birthday.” Katarina said, as she would give her a long, passionate kiss. She did sneak a little bit of Winter’s Bite onto her lips during the food, so she was wondering how Chiyome would find the sensation as they would kiss.

“Ah… Katarina.” Chiyome would manage to say, after they broke the kiss… they would both be blushing, before they began kissing again – going at each other. The sweet, chilly sensation driving them to warm each other up as their kisses would get more and more intricate.

They would spend the night like that, going until the first rays of sunshine. It was… an enchanting night.

* * *

Still, as enchanting as it was – it couldn’t go on forever. The observers would leave some time before they realized those two were wrapping up, as to not be spotted out in the open. As Katarina and Chiyome were finally alone, both would sigh.

“Well, that was somewhat rude of them.” Katarina said, it was kind of difficult not to notice the glimmer of binoculars. “But I can’t blame their curiosity.”

“I can, but I won’t cause I don’t want to make things awkward.” Chiyome said bluntly, then smiling “I’ll pay them back when it's their time to get such gifts… maybe I’ll don a butlers costume and will just be present for everyone else, see how they like the taste of their own medicine.”

Katarina would laugh, imagining that in her head. “Should be fun… and just.”

“Well, would you escort this lady to the carriage, Katarina?” Chiyome asked, giving a soft smile to Katarina.

“With pleasure, my lady.”

* * *

With her break, servant summonings and Chiyome’s birthday out of the way - Katarina finally could focus on her work in full. The work on the purification plant seemed to have halted, as the process was much more difficult then they all anticipated - but she was hoping it would resolve itself eventually. As such, Katarina would focus on writing and publishing the tomes alongside Asclepius - she learned a fair bit of magic in the process of doing it too, as it was all magic related medicine. 

It took a few months, but it was done eventually - at this point everyone else would begin having their anniversaries, so Katarina would in fact get busy - she would make it a special evening for everyone, using all she learned to make them truly unique - Chiyome would help to, to be nice and also as a payback for everyone spying on them… she would be present for every single date as a butler - making things not overly awkward, but reasonably so.

As Katarina would sort all of that out, her own birthday would sneak up on her again - has she already turned eleven? Time sure did fly, at the very least now that her mother was insisting on helping with all of the paperwork she was actually getting reasonable rest in between - the four of them managing to run what would be an entire conglomerate. 

It was about at this time, Katarina received a letter from Lady Lamont - the light mage with similar issues to the ones she used to have, her magical reserves. It went on about how she read her new published work about light magic and was curious if perhaps, something could have been done about her condition - as in, she was asking Katarina to cure her.

Katarina would look at the letter long and hard, she received a fair bit of these - most of them were left ignored, as they generally could have been solved by literally anyone but her… but Lady Lamont.

She was one of the most gossip busy ladies in the entirety of Sorcier, she would just not shut up - in fact, Katarina was fairly sure her reputation as an incredible pervert somehow was related to her, maybe not out of malice - but still.

She could use this opportunity, as such - she would write a letter inviting her over to get her examined and then Katarina would call for Chiyome. If Sorcier wanted to see her as a pervert… they would get it!

* * *

Chiyome found the plan Katarina hatched relatively amusing, so she would go along with it - she had a relatively passive but important role to play, so on the day Lady Lamont was supposed to arrive - Katarina would proceed to tie Chiyome to bed.

Yes. Literally. 

Having tied her to bed, she would politely begin to make sure she was dressed decently, but just barely so - as to create a certain visual illusion as if someone was about to get rather indecent, but was interrupted. Chiyome would giggle at the ridicule of the situation, it was nice to dream - however. 

“Well, I suppose I have to leave a few kiss marks, right!” Katarina said as she would get some lipstick and would proceed to do just that, it was about at this time…

“Katarina, you’re having guests today, right?” Miri would walk in on them, getting a good look at her two daughters. She would proceed to have a spit take of her own.

“M-mother! This is not what it looks like!” both girls would panic, sort of aghast - I mean, it was SUPPOSED to look like it, but perhaps for someone else… and not their mother.

“Well it better not be what it looks like! Explain yourself immediately!” Miri was about to bust out her fan and ground her daughters until the end of time, but she would give them the chance to explain. It had better be good.

* * *

The explanation was wild, at least the way Miri understood it. She would silently leave the girls for a second, returning after having a shot of whiskey.

“Katarina, are you sure this is the way you want your reputation to be?” Miri would ask, almost regretting her decision to let her daughter sort this whole mess out.

Of all the stupid plans of hers, really? Actually, honestly, really, not even joking?

“W-well… mother, if everyone thinks that of me - it’s unlikely I would be getting many more suitors coming and it would sort of you know… let others know Chiyome isn’t exactly… available.” Katarina said, as Miri had a headache incoming. “Obviously I would never actually force myself onto anyone…”

“Katarina… how about you just announce it publicly? There will be just as much outrage, but you will not sully your name with allegations of… this.” Miri said, exasperated - waving her hands around. Somehow she felt she was about to be talked into this insanity, wasn’t she?

“But in that case people might think it's everyone seducing me instead, I am already known as a pervert - so they would think it’s everyone else's fault I turned out like that!” Katarina would object “And there would be lots of troubles as well, but everyone’s name would be sullied. If people thought I just force myself onto people I fancy however, well - all the blame would be on me and I’m fine with that!”

“I’m not.” Miri said, adamantly “And there is no way in hell….”

They would manage to talk her into this after more arguments, among which was the fact Katarinas reputation as a pervert already wasn’t that salvageable and at least at this rate Chiyome could be made to look innocent. 

Miri however was still not happy. 

* * *

Having sorted THAT situation out, Katarina would patiently wait for Lady Lamont to arrive - after she did she would invite her over for tea, appearing… slightly unkempt, as if she was doing something before her arrival.

“Well, let us ahem… examine you then, we will have to use one of the spare rooms for examination - as I need access to your back, Lady Lamont.” Katarina explained.

“One of the spare rooms, Lady Katarina?” Lamont asked, out of curiosity.

“My room is currently… occupied.” She gave a dreamy smile, as she would escort Lamont past her room, which had a plate on it to signify it was hers - towards a room next door. “Ah, but first I need to bring some medicine to begin the examination. My apologies, it left my mind to fetch them earlier, it will only be ten minutes or so.”

Katarina would then leave Lamont just outside the room, seemingly going away - leaving ever so curious Lady Lamont to just look around. She did note what Katarina’s room was open, the door was slightly ajar.

She would resist for a few minutes, but then curiosity got the better of her - she would only peak, it wouldn’t hurt, right? She would end up barging through after what she saw.

“L-lady Chiyome? W-what is going on here?!” Lamont would ask, as she would see perhaps the most indecent sight in her life yet, the poor girl was bound to a bed and was gagged and mostly undressed - there were also kiss marks of a familiar color on her. Surely not….

She would remove the gag immediately, looking over the binding - they looked quite complicated.

“A-ah, thank you, Lady Lamont. It was mighty uncomfortable.” Chiyome would say, after catching a breath “You must have been the guest whom Katarina was expecting?”

“Could we talk about matters at hand? W-what is going on, Lady Chiyome?!” Lamont would ask, barely managing not to freak out.

“Oh, sister wanted to do a private play.” Chiyome said, being vague on purpose, she knew perfectly well it could have been taken as admission what it was all a setup and… something else. “And would not take no as an answer.”

“W-what? Aren’t you being a little bit too calm about… I will until you right now and your mother will be…” Lamont would look for something sharp to cut the rope with.

“I would advise you not to do that, if you care about your treatment.” Chiyome smiled “Sister would never in a million years hurt me, she just loves me… and I love her back.”

“She loves you… yet bothers not to ask you for basic consent? Not minding both your ages, even.” Lamont would narrow her eyes, the possibility of getting treated of course would be a loss - but she was not letting this stand, even at a cost to herself.

“I want to give it to her, but it’s not proper, Lady Lamont.” Chiyome would explain “So, please don’t be bothered by this and focus on yourself. Any allegation you would put forth, I would deny vehemently.”

Lamont would look at her, just at a loss of words.

“And if you could give her consent - she would quit doing something as ridiculous as... this?” Lamont asked, she could at least compromise - there was no way anyone would believe her if both Katarina and Chiyome would claim otherwise and she didn’t want to get ruined socially for what she felt was right.

“I think that would be the case, yes. She’s the sweetest girl in the universe and would never do something like that if there was no need. And she has never done anything to hurt me, I promise you that” Chiyome smiled, she was truthful - after all, this was just a play. It’s just, Lamont had no need to know that. 

“I see… well, if you refuse to see her punished… very well.” Lamont would leave, with a somewhat heavy heart - to wait for Katarina. It did not sit quite right with her, but if she tried to do anything about it, she felt she would get squished like a bug.

* * *

Katarina would come back soon with some ointment she claimed would help examination, Lamont would give her a look of unease - she was not so sure about letting the girl examine her anymore.

“I would like to point out I only consent to the examination, Lady Katarina. Um.. just in case.” she said, just in case as she would bare her back for Katarina to examine and apply ointment to. 

“Of course, you’re a patient and a guest... “ Katarina said chipper, she was pretty sure at this point her plan worked out perfectly. “You have a nice back, Lady Lamont… it’s very smooth.”

“Ah, c-could we keep this strictly professional, Lady Katarina?” Lamont would insist.

“Oh, of course. Sorry. It’s just so… nice and well taken care of, just like Maria’s - I wonder if that is the effect of light magic on the body.” Katarina said an innocent factoid, she knew of course it was.

“A-aah… you are quite close to Miss Campbell, if i recall her surname right?” Lamont asked, did she force herself onto her as well?!

* * *

The charade would go on for a bit, Katarina would keep herself utterly professional - using only actual medical terms related to Lamont, but phrasing them in a way which would make her both uncomfortable and question if she meant them as medical terms or some sort of innuendo. By the end of it, Katarina also figured out what her problem was - underdeveloped channels for mana flow, she actually had plenty of mana to call upon, just the channels were awful.

She would draw a quick rune on her back using the ointment, it would slowly nurture her channels to their proper form - letting her utilize her magic properly.

As soon as Katarina said she was done with the treatment and she should see effect soon, Lamont would thank her and then proceed to vacate herself as soon as possible. After she left, Katarina would giggle and go fetch Chiyome.

“Well, she bought it hook line and sinker.” she claimed, as she would untie Chiyome from her bed “I do feel kind of bad about deceiving her, but I don’t think we said any direct lies.”

“Well, whatever her imagination tells her - is none of our business.” Chiyome smiled ‘But yes, she is a good person at heart. We’ll have to explain it to her at some point and apologise.”

“Yeah… but first let’s leave her to do what she does best.” Katarina said, thinking about how this would go down. 

* * *

“For the last time, Lamont - Katarina would never ever even consider something like this! I see her at the castle every once in a while and she would never hurt a fly, let alone do this!” Bellingham said, smacking his co-worker on the head with a newspaper. “Quit fooling around!”

“But it's true! I saw it with my own eyes!” Lamont would sob a little bit, why did no one believe her. Still, she would make sure to find a way around this situation.

* * *

Over the course of a few months going forward, Katarina’s reputation actually held up surprisingly well - the new nasty rumor was just taken as an attack on her from the side of the kingdom of Quid and only some people would choose to believe those rumors. Thankfully, a fair portion of suitors came from families who did end up believing those blatant lies - so Chiyome would actually be left alone, at least relatively so. Basically, in a way - the plan worked out even better then anticipated - now Katarina could just be as straightforward as she wanted and she had a convenient excuse to rely upon.

Still, Chiyome being left alone by all of those vulchers was the real prize - one which Katarina would be more than happy about. It almost distracted her from the issues plaguing her from all sides at this point.

According to Nicol, Sorcier’s foreign relations kept going down due to the rapid progress in some fields, which still potentially could spell out a war and the information extracted from the Quid agent confirmed this was the most likely case of events. Speaking of that woman - Chiyome did break her eventually, she sang it all out like an angel for a promise of mercy. Only took a better part of half a year - but still, it was invaluable information, even if a bit outdated at this point.

Then there was the case of Blackbeard’s little flotilla being given a cold shoulder in some of the ports, due to relationships with Sorcier - it was technically a part of the same issue, but this was influencing their rate of acquisition for things they needed, rare materials mostly. Katarina would make a decision of dispatching some of the Hundred Personas to help him manage that.

And of course, the water treatment facility has been a giant disappointment - even with Hundred Personas helping as much as she possibly could, it just eventually stalled enough where Lily began feeling depressed once again. This would not stand, so Katarina decided she would take care of this issue personally - so she would head out to the construction sight alongside Chiyome. 

* * *

“So why are we heading here, Sister? Everyone’s on a break today - there shouldn’t be anyone at the site.” Chiyome was most curious why Katarina wanted to visit the place, she thought it could have maybe been another date - but decided that couldn’t be that.

“Well, I had Lily and Da Vinci explain to me how this thing worked, how the power is made and water is purified - so I felt I could finally do some good.” Katarina explained, as she looked over blueprints one more time. She did need to know the very basics at least, to let the runes do the rest of the work.

“Sis, you can’t even do your hair by yourself in the morning you still have Anne do that, are you telling me you’re going to build this thing on your own?” Chiyome loved Katarina, but she clearly didn’t know her limits whatsoever.

“Huh? Did… oh, did I never tell any of you?” Katarina suddenly felt awkward, it has been almost a year at this point since that little incident with Abigail… has she really never found time to tell them… whoops! “Well, just watch.”

Katarina would then proceed to etch the rune array in the air, imagining the facility she wanted to take shape - so far there was only a shoddy foundation laid out, after so much work - but this was about to get fixed up nicely.

As Chiyome would blink, looking at Katarina using runes not in a way a proper magus would use them, but in a way say - lady Scathach would use them. She was left absolutely speechless, as she would look around - as she expected the second she saw the primordial runes being etched, things all around them would spring into motion. 

The foundation would turn liquid, straightening itself perfectly before returning to a pristine dry shape - bolts and nuts would etch themselves out with great efficiency out of plates of metal, as walls would begin forming themselves - it would take at most a minute before the grand facility would stand tall and proud - ready to brave whatever for future generations.

“ _ **Lady Katarina Claes.**_ ” Chiyome would finally speak up, lookin at her sister who would twitch, giving her a sheepish look. “Would you please explain to me, how you know to do that, who taught you how to do that and why haven’t you TOLD anyone you could do that.”

Chiyome was fuming, her sister would be the death of her.

“Well… you see, it’s kind of awkward…” Katarina would giggle nervously, it has been well over a year since Chiyome was that mad at her “Try not to get too mad, alright?” 

“Okay.” Chiyome would lie, she would get plenty mad at her.

“Well, okay - so it all started…” Katarina would tell her what she would remember.

* * *

The next several hours were unpleasant, to say the least - Chiyome would eventually forgive her, but she did say how disappointed she was at how casually she forgot to bring something like that up with everyone. The wording would hurt quite a bit, but it was well deserved - everyone else at least would just smack her on the forehead, instead of massacring her feelings. 

Lily took it objectively the worst and the best, at the same time - from one point she was so mad she hasn’t told them about this, but from another she was ecstatic - this would save them decades of hard work. She would go on about how with this, they wouldn’t need to spend years trying to manufacture a single silicon wafer, or doing trial and error research on integrated electronics in general. She also said she would forgive her dumbass of a mistress if she would receive a laptop for Christmas. 

Katarina would just sigh, as everyone else would follow suit - making a list of things they wanted to be done by her, as a “gift”. Eventually she would give in and would start making preparations - first order of business on her way of becoming Santa Claes was rather simple - she had to have Blackbeard go out and get her the rare elements to work with.

While this was being handled, she would instead focus on getting Claes Mansion outfitted with piping and electricity from the new plant, at the very least it was much easier to train people to work in it then on it. It would take just days before Claes mansion had electrical lights and a working shower - both things proving to be extremely popular.

As Katarina would be enjoying a nice, hot shower after a hard day's work - she was thinking if these inventions also would catch up well in the world… she would of course produce some things of higher technological level for Lily and Da Vinci, as they would insist - but she did hope to let Sorcier develop at a more natural pace, after a little while. She felt electricity would be the pinnacle of what they would introduce - letting people figure out its wonders on their own. 

It would be in the middle of these ponderings, when Katarina felt someone hug her in the shower. It was Chiyome.

“Why the long face, sis?” Chiyome asked “Thinking about work again? You’ll end up hogging the shower like that.”

“Sis, shouldn’t you wait your turn?” Katarina would blush, she was still in the middle of washing her head.

“Well, I wanted to ask if you needed help with your back… and wanted to ask you to help me with mine. Also… I never kissed under a shower before.” Chiyome said, giggling.

“Oh… well… that can be fixed, ChiChi.”

_ They would kiss. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter, even if it is really weird. Question, should I raise the story rating to M? I feel like my jokes somehow started to get… weirder?  
> Anyway, that is the actual power scale of primordial runes AFAIK - if you have materials, everything else is a non issue.  
> So yeah, ugh - no need to spend 10 years researching how to to integrated circuitry. Neat. 
> 
> New Minor Servants Summoned!  
> Literally all of the Hassan-i Sabbah servants, so not going to put the details here - you can find them on Fate Fandom wiki!


	20. Chapter 17 - The Summoning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue mission is a go, at long last.

Time would pass swiftly. Days, weeks, months - all turning into a blur going by fast.

Stuck in a whirlwind of events, Katarina would have issues falling asleep once upon a time. She felt… restless, in anticipation of the day which was to come. Soon, they would know if they would proceed further with their plans, or if all of their efforts were for nothing.

It would take over a year after the construction of the Water Treatment plant for them to gather all the pieces of the puzzle together – materials, production, facilities, staff and complicated machinery. 

A titanic amount of work done in such a little span of time, it made Katarina’s head spin at times – and that’s not even accounting for the insane workflow the demand for public utilities caused, on top of her previous work.

  
  


Freely available water was a huge change on it’s own, but the demand for electricity completely blew Katarina’s expectations away – it took the people working at Ministry of Magic just a few short months to figure out how to power some of their prototypes using conventional power, which in turn allowed them to put forward an amazing array of gadgets for Sorcier to enjoy. It went without saying that there were a lot of customers for these inventions of tomorrow, available today.

Seriously, who knew the Magical Tool department would have a washing machine all figured out in a flash? Well, Anne and Cecilia sure weren't complaining after they got one as an engagement gift. That and kicking Anne’s father off from the Claes estate with enough force to break his hip bone. Gramps sure knew how to chuck a man across the fence. The audacity of the man to abandon Anne and then show up with an attempt to ruin her life as she found happiness… he should be thankful to still have a head.

Katarina would smile at the memory of how far he flew, it was a nice memory to enjoy at times like this. That and some cuddling - ChiChi was fast asleep by her side, snuggled in tight – they began sharing the bed at some point, something Katarina would enjoy greatly – but at times she did miss the opportunity to throw a late night’s temper tantrum.

  
  


Ah well, she could just sort out her head instead – there was quite a selection of things to consider about tomorrow. Among chief issues was Lily, Katarina was getting worried – she… was feeling like she was failing her. She would allow her to run relatively rampart, asking ridiculous things of Katarina – all in hopes of having her plan succeed and her condition easened, but she had to admit the girl’s mental health wasn’t doing much better after almost three years of faithful service – in fact Katarina was afraid it might have worsened.

The closer they got to today, the more they worked and toiled - the more something seemed to have been bothering Lily. Something hiding behind her smile, which Katarina was suspecting she was forcing on herself. 

“Mmm… why are you awake, Katarina?” Chiyome would mumble, opening her eyes ever so slightly “Feeling nervous?”

“Ah… sorry, did I wake you up? It’s nothing, just thinking about today. Go back to sleep, ChiChi.” Katarina gave her a kiss, before trying to get some shut eye herself.

She would need all the energy for later today.

* * *

As the morning would arrive, Katarina would make her preparations and head to one of the parlors in the Claes mansion, it was an innocent enough looking room with a large, imposing looking mirror in it – which supposedly was magical, but she never bothered enough to check it if it was or not.

Instead, it served a slightly different purpose to Katarina – as she would pull on the room's light switch, to reveal a numerical pad hidden behind it. She would type in the code, as the aforementioned mirror would slide away revealing a staircase going down. Teach and his theatrics, seriously.

“Alright everyone, let’s get a move on!” Katarina would yell, as everyone would gather up – servants, family and friends alike. Even the Queen would take some free time off to visit, this was partially a matter of state security, after all. “Right this way, please. Mind the stairs, they are well lit but go for a long while. The fall would easily break your neck.”

They would descend down the stairs, it took a couple of minutes to get all the way down – they would find themselves on a platform leading up to a small train, which would eventually take them to their destination.

“Quite impressive, I must say.” Her Majesty would note, this was much more complicated than she anticipated “What was the design decision behind this place?”

“Ugh… it was actually “designed” by Blackbeard here, your Majesty.” Katarina said, pointing at Teach who was grinning like a big kid, she realized way too late where he had stolen the design for the facility from. “This train will take us to the facility in question, deep under the city.”

“You did mention the facility you’ve built is underground to hide it’s level of technology, is it truly right under the capital?” Her Majesty asked, just processing all of that as they all would board the train.

“Yes, it’s the safest and most logical place for it, Your Majesty.” Katarina said as she would activate the train “Any other place and it would eventually be found. We can’t have that happening, Your Majesty.”

* * *

It was actually more of a strategic decision, the original Chaldea was destroyed in a surprise attack by massive enemy forces – it was in a secluded space, which for all of it’s advantages was easy to assault, as long as one could get to Antarctica with an army. However, with a facility deep underground – with only available points of access being two train stations with a hefty travel time, a direct assault of that scale not only was practically impossible, they would know about it a good half an hour in advance.

The location also helped with protecting citizens of Sorcier from any potential harmful influence from the facility – it was pushed to the bleeding edge of technology of Katarina’s old world, perhaps even further beyond. It was out of the question to let anyone, but the very select trusted few in on this secret.

Building it underground also saved a lot on resources, as Katarina could just convert displaced earth into a selection of building materials – runes sure were handy in construction, she just wished she wasn’t the only one who knew how to operate them. Etching them all the time during the construction made her fingers hurt more than one time. Still...

* * *

As they would arrive and disembark from the train, the majority of the visitors would look around in amazement – this platform was much larger and more grandiose then the other one. It was made to impress and serve as a “last stand” defensive position, so it had a certain design flow to it.

“This place is…an absolute overkill.” Geordo would say - he has heard about this place from Maria and Keith, who supposedly visited it often during construction, but he never visited prior to now. “For sure looks like your style, Katarina.”

“Overkill doesn’t even begin to describe this…” Nicol would concur, he knew to expect something ridiculous considering how much resources Blackbeard smuggled into the country from other countries, but he never anticipated… this.

“You haven’t seen anything yet, brother.” Sophia said happily “Past that big door there is a whole small city!”

“Wait a second… is this the place which inspired that hive like base in that book of yours, Sophia?” Mary would ask suddenly, narrowing her eyes “What was it… _Residence of Evil?_ ”

Sophia would give a sly nod and a wink.

“Huh, that sounds surprisingly close to...” Katarina would look at Sophia, raising an eyebrow. How would she even… never mind, that was something she would have to ask later “Well anyway, this blast door here can withstand a whole army. It can be opened by just a handful of people, like this.”

Katarina would showcase by putting her hand against the scanner by the blast door, as the large thing would move away slowly – allowing them the way to the facility. It was well lit and made in soft, whiter steel colors – just like the original Chaldea.

“Everyone, I would like to welcome you to the Sorcier branch of the Organization for the Preservation of Human Order, Chaldea!” Katarina made the grand statement, as they all would funnel in. 

* * *

The facility itself was enormous, painstakingly designed to be self contained – energy, food, water, oxygen – everything was manufactured on site. It was partially due to that, the size of the facility was this large. Equipped with living quarters, recreational rooms, control centers and offices – it was built to last. They would begin the tour, showcasing every aspect of the facility, then they would gather in the main control room – where Chaldeas was located.

“Mistress, we are ready to initiate.” Lily would yell, as she saw everyone arrive. Her heart was pounding – she put… so much effort into this, it would finally pay off. It had to. It had to. It had to. She just needed the green light to begin and with some luck they wouldn’t all explode.

“Everyone is nice and safe, Lily! As such, you have green light to go! Smack it!” Katarina said, this was the scary part – but also exiting in a way. She would give her a heave-go to go!

“Understood! Starting up Trismegistus!” Lily would begin the start up sequence for the brains of the operation. She would cross her fingers.

* * *

As Lily would begin starting up the **Trismegistus, the main spiritron supercomputer** – the lined walls of the command room would light up, as that WAS the unit in question. The room would get filled with a persistent hum, as the newly laid out blocks of spiritron conductors would flare up with power for the first time. The computational strength of the system allowed the other two major parts of the system to work at full capacity in real time, making records of the past, present and future.

“All Trismegistus systems are nominal! So far so good!” Lily exclaimed, as she looked to her older self “Older me, what’s the status?!”

“Nothing blew up, so we’re good!” Da Vinci exclaimed more than happy, causing everyone to stare at her. “Oh come on, I’m just joking! It wouldn’t explode, just shatter into millions of pieces which would expand inwards, like an explosion.”

“Shut up, old me! Okay, starting up Chaldeas! Everyone, look at the big sphere in the middle!” Lily said, this was the part which was likely to explode, actually. Sixty to forty percent.

* * *

**The Global Environment Model “CHALDEAS”** was an immaculate, perfect one to one replica of the world – which when fully powered would shift itself to provide accurate, real time information about the world in question. It could represent the state of the world not only in the present, but in the past and the future – however it was impossible to observe it without outside means in full, due to it being visually shrunk so by its containment. 

Due to that, it’s actual density was akin to a sun or even a black hole, the touch to the unconstrained core would prove deadly in the most unpleasant of ways – as Earth’s Chaldea director Olga Marie found out the hard way.

As the rings around the system would start spinning and the Chaldeas came to live – it would begin drawing a monumental amount of power. More than the whole of Sorcier would use in a year, with every full rotation. The surface would shift rapidly, analyzing the condition of the planet now and in the ages both past and future.

“Chaldeas is operational! Trismegistus receiving a full data stream from the rudimentary surface analysis, we are golden so far! Yes!” Lily would do a little dance out of happiness, this was the part which could have turned into a disaster, but it didn’t. Success so clearly in view.

“Ah, we’re still alive. Good - never fancied being disintegrated.” Da Vinci said, drawing more irate looks.

Meanwhile, Alan would ask Geordo “So, how dangerous do you think being here is, right now?”

Geordo would think, looking around “Highly, why do you ask?”

“Just curious.” Alan would sigh “So I’m not the only one who gets that feeling.”

“Okay everyone, last part is… “Sheba!” Lily exclaimed, as she would turn on the last of the systems.

* * *

**The Near-future observation lens “Sheba''** was actually perhaps the most important part of the whole operation – where Chaldeas was the thing which was observed, and Trismegistus was the storage and thinking center – Sheba did the actual observing.

It was the only thing which could peer into Chaldeas with efficiency, recording all of the data of past, present and the future in real time for analysis. The moment it went online, countless terabytes of data would flow to Trismegistus.

The system would begin analyzing the data it received, as Chaldeas would turn from a soft blue hue to a soft yellow hue – signifying potential danger.

  
  


“Uh oh.” Lily went, alongside Da Vincy.

“Uh oh?!” that was everyone else.

“Ah… a-according to the information I am getting…” Lily would shake a little bit, this could be bad. “Oh, thank the mistress - it’s irrelevant.”

“I’m not sure that’s the fitting expression, young lady.” Da Vinci would note “Sheba is observing… a possibility of a large scaled armed conflict taking place within the next three years.”

Silence would follow for a second.

“How large of a scale?” Katarina would ask slowly, looking at Da Vinci.

Everyone else would look too, as Da Vinci would clear her throat.She would think for a second how to approach it.

“Does the term, World War, tell you anything?”

Silence would fall down once again, then a couple of annoyed people would look at Lily who went “thank whoever” just a second ago – mainly Geordo, Alan and Her Majesty. Miri too.

“I’m afraid this is pretty bad.” Da Vinci would say, looking over the data “I can’t say anything precise just yet, but the system is clearly seeing it as a threat to the continued existence of the world.”

“But we still can observe the future! So that means, we are good to go – no matter what, humanity has a future ahead of it, so we can save them! We. Can. Save. Them!” Lily completely disregarded the topic concerning everyone else - which, honestly didn’t bother her in any way, shape or form. “I… I need to sit down.”

Katarina would give Lily an annoyed glance, this was nice and all… but they had more important matters on their hands now. “Your majesty… I think…”

“Yes. I need to get going, my husband has to hear about this and preparations must be made. It is as we feared, Katarina. I will be expecting a full report once you get through all the data.” Her Majesty would excuse herself alongside one of the hundred personas. The moment she left, all the chaos broke loose.

* * *

It would take several hours for everyone to calm down enough where a productive conversation could be held. They would return to Claes Mansion, letting Lily take the charge of the facility, alongside the skeletal crew.

“War! And not just war, but… at that scale? Surely this has to be a joke. Surely the folly of humans can only go so far into madness?” Luigi would not be able to comprehend such a concept, it seemed ridiculous.

“I’m afraid this is what awaits us, father.” Keith said, looking at long faces of his sisters “At least if these faces are to be believed and at this point I trust that more than any of their fancy inventions.”

“I…. surely with everything at our disposal it can be averted?” Luigi would ask “Is that not the purpose of this organization? Otherwise, the loss of life would be...”

“It is, father.” Chiyome spoke up “And we will. We have to. Right, everyone?” Chiyome would look around “It is our duty to stop this, at any cost. Especially those of us who are heroic spirits - we should…”

“No.” Katarina said, adamantly “You are my sister, Chiyome. Let everyone else handle this. That’s an order. Not up for discussion.”

“Sister!” Chiyome would tense up, did Katarina doubt her skills as a heroic spirit?

“That's an order. Not up for discussion.” Keith chimed in, looking at their parents. They would look between each other and repeat that as well.

“You all suck! The hell?!” Chiyome would be outraged, but a blush would sneak onto her face. Obviously, they cared for her – but this literally was her job, dammit!

“I heard an order, did anyone else hear an order?” Geordo would ask, taking an opportunity where he could see one.

“Pretty sure I heard an order, yes.” Mary would conclude, looking over to Maria, who also would chip in “Orders are orders, Lady Chiyome!”

Alan would wish he had a trombone on himself, but would just repeat after everyone else “Factual orders.”

Sophia would giggle “This scene will look good in my next book, but yes – orders are orders!”

“I hate ALL of you.” Chiyome would just proceed to pout, as everyone would burst into laughter. At least, they managed to cheer up after the revelation.

* * *

The next few weeks would prove more chaotic than usual, the Crown would begin preparing for the war, trying to conceal their effort from other nations. Lily would work hard with Da Vinci to get as much data into their hands, so they could concentrate their efforts well.

Katarina would begin her own preparations as well, food and medicine – things which would come in handy if the war did break out. She also ordered all of the assassin servants under her, bar Chiyome to begin active intelligence gathering – if they could prevent this turn of events, that would be the desired option. 

Chiyome would of course be fairly upset about it, enough so to even go back to her own room - but Katarina put down her boot and was not going to change her decision. She needed her here - by her side. She was sure she would forget her eventually.

There was however… one other annoyance she had to deal with.

* * *

Katarina would be once again working late in the night, Maria and Miri would head out to bed at that point, but there were still some things for Katarina to wrap up. She wouldn’t stay up much longer, but she felt it was best to do this right now. She would hear her office door opening, as she would let out a sigh. Here they go again.

“Mistress?” Lily would ask, walking into Katarina’s office, she looked a lot more determined than usual. Figured out a plan, did she.

“Lily, we talked about this many times now. My answer remains the same.” Katarina would sound slightly annoyed, she came to talk about proceeding with her plan right away – which was safe enough to do, but Katarina wanted to wait a few months just in case Sheba could pinpoint the exact date and event which would spark the armed conflict. That was all she asked of Lily, to wait a few more months.

Lily would walk up to Katarina and would sit on the table, drawing an irate look. Katarina hated when people sat on her table, always did – always would, Lily should be perfectly aware of this. 

“Lily, whatever it is you are planning – it won’t work. Especially if you are inclined to make me upset” Katarina would just try to focus on her work, instead of paying attention to her poor table creaking.

“Did I not serve you well, mistress?” Lily would ask after a while, Katarina would suppress her desire to roll her eyes – was she going to guilt trip her into changing her mind?

“You did.” Katarina would look at her “That still doesn’t change my decision.”

Lily would look at Katarina, smiling. Her mistress was an absolute idiot. She supposed this was her, no – their combined fault. She would recall how she was just some short three years ago, how much more carefree. Hm, well – it was time to act. No matter how much her idiot of mistress hardened up over the years, there was something that made her squeamish.

“And nothing I could do would change your mind?” Lily would speak up, thinking what opportunities she had.

“Well, getting off of my table would be a good start.” Katarina said “But no, there is nothing. Go to bed, Lily.”

Lily felt compulsion to get off the table, but she would fight it for now – even if it would hurt. She did get used to living like this after a while, as her body would tell her things, it sucked – but it was manageable, most of the time. Still nothing really to be happy about, but…

“You look tense, mistress. Maybe a massage?” Lily would propose, looking Katarina over – she grew up quite a little bit, but her work did leave her posture lacking a bit. Well, quite a lot - actually. 

“I look tense because Maria borrowed my footrest and has forgotten to return it.. actually, please go and fetch it – it should be out there somewhere. A walk surely would do you some good.” Katarina said, finding a good excuse to shoo Lily out of her office.

“Oh, of course, mistress.” Lily would snap her finger, bingo. This was sure to get her feathers ruffled like nothing else. She would get off the table…

“Good, thank you.” Katarina would say as she got to work. A few seconds later, she felt something and would go “Kyyyyyaaaaa?!”

  
  


It was a long time since Katarina was startled like that, as Lily would push herself between the floor and Katarina, using her back as improvised footrest. Katarina would look at her in confusion, which changed to disgust which then changed to embarrassment and only then anger. 

“Get out of there immediately! NOW!” Katarina would order, she would just push her away or get up herself, but she was fairly sure the applied force of either of the actions would leave nasty bruises on Lily. 

“Is something not to your liking, mistress? Am I not soft enough? Lily asked as her whole body would want to ache and move away, that sure did the trick. 

“Ugh, everything?! I told you to get out!” Katarina would look at Lily “I will use a command seal if I have to!”

“Ooooh, I like it when you order me around, mistress.” Lily would giggle suppressing her body shaking, she wondered if Katarina really would use one for this.

“You need help…” Katarina said, letting out a sigh. She was a failure as a master, to let it get to this…

Lily would look up at Katarina, it was slightly uncomfortable to do so from where she was – but she managed.

“Do I need help, mistress – or do you need help?” Lily would ask, changing her tone a little bit “Whatever it is you are thinking right now is nonsense.”

  
  


Katarina would twitch, looking at Lily.

“By my command seal…” Katarina would begin the incantation, she had enough. This was not an appropriate use for something so precious - but she felt like she needed to make a point.

“Not listening to me is not going to help either of us, mistress.” Lily would warn, she felt... appreciating that she would waste a precious seal on nonsense like this - but it was inconvenient to her plans.

  
  


Katarina would hesitate, stopping the incantation of her order and look at Lily.

“What do you mean, Lily? What is it you so desperately want from me, apart from making me uncomfortable?” Katarina would ask, looking her over. “It isn’t funny. It isn’t cute. It’s not going to change my mind.”

“Just now, your face – what were you thinking?” Lily would ask, she had a fairly solid idea.

“I was thinking that I clearly have failed you.” Katarina said, sighing “This is not healthy, Lily. You are a smart, dignified, wonderful person – not a footrest. I’m not sure where I went wrong, so you think this is appropriate – but clearly I did.”

  
  


“I’ve done this to piss you off, mistress. Nothing more.” Lily would state, drawing an irate look from Katarina.

“Yes, I suppose you have achieved that. Will you please get out of there now, please?” Katarina would ask in a hopeful intonation “So we can forget this ever happened?”

‘Nope.” Lily said, feeling smug about herself. “Because you, mistress – are an idiot.”

“Says the genius turned impromptu footrest.” Katarina would deadpan. 

“How have you failed me, mistress?” Lily asked “Yes, perhaps some of the things you’ve allowed me to do over the years have been… questionable. You tolerated me, as much of a failure I am myself, true. But…”

Lily would take a moment to ponder, it was harder to say this – now that she actually had a moment.

“Heroic spirits are tools, Mistress. I am a worthless heroic spirit, past my looks and smarts. As a tool, I am only that useful. Yet, you never treated me as a tool… none of us. Well… maybe Blackbeard.” Lily said, thinking about everyone “And even more so, you went on a wild goose chase, for all of us. I might be biased… I might want you to do all what you did, but you had no reason to do anything.”

Kataina would look at Lily, her expression softening a little bit.

“You gave more when we all could ever hope to ask of any normal master, even a master like Ritsuka. We are just fleeting memories of people who are long dead, after all. But as much as we appreciate it, have you not noticed anything, mistress?” Lily asked.

“Apart from the obvious insanity in front of me?” Katarina asked, she wasn’t sure where Lily was going with this.

“Why do you keep carrying the world on your shoulders? You might not be as young as some of your friends believe it to be, mistress – but you are still a child. You did everything you promised, but why are you still working so hard?” Lily would push the issue.

Katarina would look at her, shaking her head “It’s my responsibility and duty.”

“Why?” Lily would ask “You could allow all of us handle this, while you could do countless other things. Delegating responsibilities is important, remember?”

“Because I have the power to do something about it. And it's my fault this is even happening to begin with..” Katarina said, now she had a full headache setting in. How much she messed up the natural state of the world.

“No, the fault is ours.” Lily would say “Me, Asclepius… Blackbeard, even Chiyome in a way – we pushed you to do things which have set you forth. Not you, we did. So responsibility is ours, yet you keep growing more and more… distant.”

“Distant? Hardly…” Katarina would think about what she was saying, she supposed it was partially true, but still… she allowed them to steer here up to this point… so it was her fault.

“You thought I came here because I wanted something? I suppose it’s true in a way, I can’t change what I am, the way I am made. But what I wanted is to check on you, mistress.” Lily said “The first thought you wake up to is work, the last thought you go to bed with is work. Chiyome told me as much, you are having trouble sleeping, again.”

Katarina would look at Lily, as she would try to process that particular accusation. Well, yes – she had a lot to do, as such to be efficient she HAD to give enough thought to everything in advance. It only made sense.

“It is what it is, Lily.” Katarina said, as she would finally put her paperwork away. She didn’t feel like finishing it now.

“Your mother brought this up earlier with you, did she not, mistress?” Lily asked “So did Chiyome and practically all of your friends. But whenever we try to do something about it, you just come up with excuses and carry on working - avoiding us if you have to.”

“W-well, that’s nonsense, I give everyone plenty of my time.” Katarina would feel hurt, she made sure to give everyone plenty of attention – even between her work.

“You give everyone plenty of time, like a treat - how much time do you give yourself, Mistress?” Lily would ask approaching the situation in a different way.

  
  


“This discussion is over.” Katarina would say after a little bit “Please get out from under my table, Lily. That’s an order. Now.”

“I won’t, mistress. I will faithfully serve you and protect you, even against yourself!” Lily would say, as she felt her whole body fire up under the deep engraved compulsion once again. She just had to hold out a little bit longer. “And I will keep making you uncomfortable until you get it, you idiot!”

“And why is making me uncomfortable so important?!” Katarina would inquire, she couldn’t believe Lily was still being so adamant about this.

“Because only when you freak out you show your old self! The idiot my mistress used to be, a sweet, simple minded, kind hearted individual who only cared to be happy and make people around herself happy! Not some idiot who grew up way too early and wants to carry the entire world on her shoulders!” Lily would flare up “The only time we get to see that old Katarina is when you are flustered, when you’re angry! Give me my mistress back!”

Katarina would go silent for a bit.

“I feel both appreciated and highly insulted.” Katarina would state, all of her friends always had a knack for complimenting AND insulting her “Have I really changed that much?”

“Yeah… everyone noticed. In fact, everyone helped me to prepare this little speech.” Lily would explain “You can help the world, mistress. But don’t sacrifice your own happiness to do so. Enjoy your childhood while you can, let us thank you for all the hard work you’ve done for us. Please.”

“And here I thought everyone liked when I was acting serious…” Katarina would sigh “… fine. I will try to… do whatever it is I did in the past?”

Honestly, what did she even do in the past? Apart from being oblivious to everyone’s feelings towards her. She supposed she did miss her binge eating of sweets in enormous quantities, running around making inappropriate jokes… gardening, casual discussions – reading novels, attending tea parties, enjoying a good rumor or two, playing tag… or any game in general. Sleeping in, foraging, daydreaming… 

The more Katarina thought about it, the more depressed she felt. 

“I think we’ve finally got a landing.” Lily said, letting out a sigh. She was glad.

“You’ve got a point… but still, get out.” Katarina said, surely she would get out now that she made her point.

“No, make yourself comfortable.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

Suddenly, a door would open as Maria would swing by.

“Sorry, Katarina - I forgot to retu…” the girl would walk into the office with the footrest in question, observing what Katarina and Lily were up to. “Oh...I g-guess I’ll keep it then. Ahem. Goodnight.” 

Katarina would be too shocked to even say anything at first. She would smack her head against the table. “This is your fault.”

* * *

Lily kept being a pain in her butt going forward, but Katarina had to admit she had a real point. As such, she would delegate a decent chunk of her work to others – reducing her work hours in half, all told. Having free time again felt quite alien, as the poor girl would struggle to come up with something to do in her spare time.

Well, she would get back to gardening – something she did miss dearly, however it was a little bit difficult to pick up again, pretty much from scratch. It was much easier to swing her hoe around now, that she was a bit older and significantly stronger – she would get a giant patch of veggies growing in no time.

Another thing she would give a try was cooking, chopping and mincing things was quite a satisfying past time – plus she could give a try to some of the dishes from her own world, especially with a little application of magic. The first batch of shaved ice proved to be quite popular with everyone, so she would consider that something worth pursuing.

And of course, there were the tea parties – she would attend as many as she could, it was nice to just… mingle. Not about work, not about duties – but just silly rumors and such, even if it was significantly more difficult to do so then prior to everything – as Katarina’s reputation did leave her slightly… well, not outside of social circles – but people were slightly wary of her. But it was still fun, so that was fine.

It wouldn’t take long for her to get back to earth, at least partially – she did in fact miss all of these things and she was glad about that talk… she just wished Lily stopped being... weird. And for Maria to return her footrest. 

Still, some time would pass and having gotten no concrete answer from Sheba - Katarina decided to greenlight the second stage of the rescue operation, maybe that would make Lily get off her back. Or help, at least.

* * *

Thankfully, stage two of the rescue operation was much easier to implement – the main problem was, they would only get one chance. Period. They would begin with constructing a chamber/hangar which would serve as a gateway to the Imaginary Number Space – since it was an existence outside the normal boundaries of reality, it was infinite and it wasn’t infinite at the same time. 

It was complicated, but the process would consist of synchronizing with the exact version of Imaginary Number Space the Shadow Border was stuck in, transfixing its location and timeline to the constructed chamber and pulling in the vessel itself.

In theory, easy – in practice, there were tons of things which could go wrong if they weren’t careful. The space could leak past the chamber, which could cause a catastrophe – they could fail to manage to salvage the vessel, which would be synchronized at that point with their space time, which meant they would have at most an hour to try again… it was a bundle of potential troubles.

Still, Katarina had faith in everyone – she would just show up periodically to apply some reinforcements to the chamber itself, as well as other minor work – this whole thing really was over her head and for once she didn’t feel like bothering to get into it’s innermost workings. At least that would keep Lily busy and off of her back, which at this point was a bonus.

They would get it done, eventually – this time it would just be the inner circle and the servants who would gather, before all of the preparation would be put to the test.

* * *

“Well, whatever crazy thing you were working on – it seems we are finally at the end of this tunnel… just try not to borrow into another one straight away, would you?” Miri would ask, looking… annoyed. Not that she minded at this point, but she felt there was something questionable what was going to happen.

“I make no promises, mother.” Katarina said looking at her “It’s kind of my thing, at this point.”

“Yes, I have noticed that.” Miri would shoot her an even more annoyed look. “Just be careful. No heroics, understood?”

“I’ll try.” Katarina smiled, as the two of them would descend down to the lower part of the chamber, where everyone else has gathered already. There was a strong barrier between them and the main operational surface of the chamber – triple reinforced and stress tested by everyone, even their noble phantasms didn’t seem to be able to dent it.

“Are you ready, Lily?” Da Vinci would ask, as she saw Katarina and Miri come downstairs – they would be good to go now.

“As ready as I'll ever be, older me.” Lily was currently wearing a copy of Chaldean Combat Uniform they produced. She was the only tether they had between their reality and Shadow Border, as such she would be loaded right into the device – not unlike fuel, in a way. Considering how flimsy she was, a protective mystic code was pretty much a necessity. 

“We are all set to go, Master, Lady Claes.” Da Vinci would report “So, shall we?”

Katarina would look over everyone, walking over to Lily and checking if every array was alright on her uniform. “Looks good enough for me, let’s do it everyone!”

It was now or never, she was looking forward to meeting Fujimaru, she heard so much about her.

* * *

With Lily safe inside the central processor tube, they would begin – activating the devices installed in each wall of the chamber, slowly flooding the observable space in front of them with void. It was a little bit difficult to observe the abyss in front of them, as Gramps would mention not to stare too deep into the void, for the reasons of it staring back.

As the chamber in question would fill up with almost tangible, visible nothingness – there was a sound which implied immense pressurization, as Da Vinci would make all the checks and raise a second, back up barrier. It was much higher power, but wouldn’t last long – still, it was a nice safety feature in case something went awry.

“Well, break a leg everyone! It’s now or never, we are doing it live!” Da Vinci would hit the big red button, as the whole room would shake – as the void in front of them would seemingly combust into colors, showing a volatile sea of colors. In the distance among the floating helixes of numbers, a large metal box of some kind was visible.

“There it is, in the distance!” Chiyome exclaimed, confirming with one of the consoles “I think it’s drifting away, but we should be able to…”

“I’ve got a connection! Here we go!” Da Vinci would then tap the tube Lily was in “It’s all on you now, go go!”

* * *

It did not take long for Lily to acquire remote control access to the vessel, as it was fortunately prepared to receive exactly this kind of control intrusion. Once she had the controls all wired up, she would begin driving it to the location of the void-connected chamber.

She was happy, elated even - but also concerned. The vessel functioned and she could track lifeforms inside of it, but the date of the machinery suggested they were off by almost a week - did they make a mistake in calculations, somewhere? Or was it just the quirk of inter-dimensional realm merging?

And more importantly, how did the Border was still intact? If she recalled right, before she… before she “crossed” over - there were precious few hours left until logic walls would fail and the vessel would suffer an unimaginable end, alongside everyone inside of it. So what exactly happened? Why was it still intact and operational?

She supposed it was one of those “don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth” situations, but she still raised a warning to everyone else, about potential trouble. 

After the Border reached its destination and was parked, she would confirm it was on the right plane for what they needed to do and signaled her older self to turn off the Void-Space generators, they had succeeded in their rescue operation. 

It felt… amazing. She just wished she would see everyone soon, as she felt herself tire out - this body of hers couldn’t even handle exposure to this kind of control implantation for long… well, she would see them once she woke up. For now, it was time to sleep.

* * *

“She passed out… darn, did she manage to open up the hatch?” Da Vinci asked, as she would start unloading the tube and pull out her tiny version out of it “Oh, she will be bruised all over after this. Hey, Asclepius - would you get her to the surface?”

“I shall, allow me.” The good doctor would take her and would look over the Border “I will be back shortly, please try not to get into any trouble. Director Musik can be an aggressive man, but he’s actually a really good person at heart.

“Take care of her, doc. Well, everyone - let’s go give Ritsuka a big ol’ hug!” Blackbeard would laugh, all of their hard work has finally paid off. 

“Please go die in a corner.” Chiyome said, as per usual.

“ChiChi! Come on now, I missed her just like everyone else!” Teach would complain, he would never do anything lewd towards her of all people. Or Mash. He learned the HARD way not to ever do that, anyway.

“We still need to find a way in, everyone. Master, stay here - we will go scout out - if that is fine with you?” Da Vinci would ask, looking everyone over.

“Fine with me! Chiyome, Da Vinci, Teach - move out and secure your friends! Everyone else, stay here and do guard duty in case of anything. Remember, even if hostilities break out - treat them gently.” Katarina said, she figured the passengers might feel… threatened, right now. She sure would be and she knew from the stories that the vessel was equipped with some armaments. 

* * *

The moment the barrier was loosened enough to traverse it in spirit form, the three of them would move past it - approaching Shadow Border, slowly. Katarina had a point, hostilities could break out as this was unlike anything they ever would experience before and well, Goredolf WAS kind of “shoot first, ask questions later” kind of guy.

They would secure the immediate vicinity soon enough, looking for a way in - the one way they hoped to use was actually blocked off, having been hastily repaired. It was the now nonexistent hole left by an RPG blast, the one they would receive back in Russian Lostbelt. 

“Well, this is annoying. We might have to break in.” Da Vinci said “My own access codes don’t seem to do anything and Lily’s only good for moving the thing.”

“Ugh, I’d rather not do any breakin’ - never know with these things, maybe it’ll do more harm than good.” Teach said, thinking “Maybe just wait for them to come out?”

“I agree. We might have known bits which would have been safe to breach in the past, but they clearly did some repairs - wouldn’t want to damage an irreparable system or something.” Chiyome sighed “Shall we wait, then?”

  
  


“Oh, there is no need to wait, my fair lady.” The three of them would tense up, as a figure would jump off from the roof of the Border, placing themselves between them and the vessel. 

It was clear, this was a heroic spirit of some kind - they clearly had a Saint Graph and they handled the fall just fine. Relatively tall, androginous figure - leaning more towards a female posture. Clad in layered, tinted body armor from head to toe - the only odd thing about them was their mask - which concealed their face entirely. The mask itself was a mix of the drama and tragedy masks - Sock and buskin. It looked rather hastily made.

“Who are you?!” everyone would get into a battle ready stance, including servants by Katarina’s side. Katarina in turn, noticing they didn’t recognise this figure - would ask Asako to evacuate everyone and make sure they would be safe. 

“Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ruler of Starlit Dreams. I will be entertaining all of you today, until my Master wakes up and allows you all to board this vessel - I’m afraid they all had to be put under artificial sleep to preserve the food reserves. But not to worry, we have… maybe an hour to play before they rouse.”

“Artificial sleep to… I see.” Da Vinci figured something was a little bit odd, especially with the repaired blast hole - seems like old Ritsuka managed to pull something out of her sleeve. Good. “But what do you mean by “play”?”

“Yeah, we aren’t in the mood for games.” Chiyome would look at the self proclaimed Ruler, something about them was… off.

‘It was my request to my master, I would make sure they would survive until you rescued them and in return, I would get to fight and indulge in whatever desires I would like. There is a long list, but on top of them is beating the crap out of the three of you. As such.” Ruler would manifest a spear “I would like to challenge you to combat until knockout, like heroic spirits do.”

Teach would glance between Ruler and Katarina, keeping quiet. He was ready to act the instant he had to, he just wanted to make sure that he could bodyblock that spear if he needed to - after all, the quickest way to beat a servant was to kill their master.

“I’m afraid that’s not up for us, or you to decide.” Da Vinci said, trying to figure out who could this be. A true name would help them achieve victory much easier - as she had to admit, everyone here bar Blackbeard was rusty at best and not combat viable at worst.

Heroic spirits did lose their edge too, just like humans. They in particular were rather pampered, so they could easily lose a three to one advantage - if their opponent proved challenging enough. 

“We saved you and your master, Ruler.” Katarina spoke up, having observed it all “This request is laughable. I demand you to stand down.”

“No. Whatcha gonna do about it, kid?” Ruler would look at Katarina “I will get what I want, but I will fight to kill if you won’t agree to my terms.”

Katarina would twitch. She didn’t want to lose anyone. Dammit.

“... fine. But…” Katarina would speak up.

“Forget about it kid, if you intervene - I will teach you a lesson. Just the three of them and me, I will accept no substitutes. Don’t worry, they’ll live.” Ruler’s mask would turn to a nasty grin. “Barely.”

As Ruler said that they would dodge - as a bullet would fly by their head, Blackbeard had some astounding reflexes, it took him a split second to get his flintlock and fire at the time he felt it was the most likely to hit.

“Tsch.” Teach would go, this was totally expected by his opponent - they had to know how he operates to anticipate that. This smelled of fish.

“And just like that, our duel begins.” The masked Ruler would say, tones of glee showing on the mask, as they would dash towards the trio - aiming their spear at Chiyome.

To Chiyome’s credit, even while being rusty she did manage to deploy her Kōga-ryū **(Skill:Kōga-ryū Evasion,** 1 turn + NP Charge) skills before she was put on the spear like a cheap piece of meat, she would dash past her enemy, striking at their chest - her blow landing, doing little damage however.

“Oh, I guess this is not the kind of tool you like to be pierced by, my fair lady.” Ruler would say, as they would have to dodge Blackbeard and Da Vinci in melee, specifically - Da Vinci’s flamethrower. “Oh, chill out a little bit, would you, beautiful?” 

“Well, at least you have a taste in women.” Da Vinci said, as she would fire up all of the offensive systems of her right arm’s gizmo. 

“Women? Please, you probably have the biggest tool of anyone present here.” Ruler said, proceeding to dodge an angry barrage from Teach - someone was upset. “Oi, knock it out.”

Ruler would make a sudden change of posture, throwing the spear directly at Teach aiming to his stomach - he would manage to dodge it, just - he would however keep in mind to activate some of his own skills, seeing how fast these throws were. ( **Skill: Pirate’s Honor B** \- Guts for 1 time (Revives), Increases own attack)

“Careful, the spear! Behind!” Chiyome would yell, as Teach would have to dodge again - the bloody enemy could control the spear after having tossed it, who were they, discount Gilgamesh?!

“Oh, there are better ways you could have worded that, my fair lady.” Ruler grinned, causing an irate groan from Chiyome. “So, are you all just going to stand there, or are you going to go on an offensive?” 

Ruler would look them all over, they were playing cautious after she showcased her spear skills - how boring.

“Very well, I guess I will have to take you all out on the date first. Well, let’s get onto it - I can’t fill you up with my spear, if you don’t come.” ( **Skill: Unnaturally Born Pervert** \- High chance to draw attention of all enemies, Invincibility 2 times, Debuff Immunity 2 times, Large chance to score a critical hit)

“Oh, quit with those already, they’re not even funny!” Da Vinci would charge in, using her arm hammer function to break through the enchanted defense Ruler just applied, they would get sent back flying. ( **Skill: Pioneer of the Stars EX** \- Charge Noble Phantasm, Ignores Invincibility 3 turns, Large chance to score a critical hit)

“Dammit, I knew I should have devised something to deal with this crap!” Teach would complain, he lined up his shot perfectly but the shot just bounced off - he hated servants who had access to invincibility. So cheap.

“What? They are plenty funny.” Ruler seemed to take some offense, as the second hit of invincibility would be taken by Chiyome dropping out of her presence concealment to try and perform a backstab. “My fair lady, a dance if you would!”

Ruler would grab Chiyome by the arms and would fling them hard into the wall - making a significant indentation in heavily armored plating. She coughed up a non insignificant amount of blood, almost losing consciousness. (Critical hit)

“ChiChi!” Katarina would scream out, gritting her teeth. She was told to stay out of this, but… 

“Oh, now you’ve done it.” Da Vinci would seethe, she gathered enough magical power through her previously activated skill and through her natural “ **Golden Rule** ” skill - which was always active. She would activate her “ **Natural Born Genius EX** ” skill (Guts 1 time, NP damage, Defense up). 

Ruler who would seemingly be expecting that, would activate a skill of her own. This was going to hurt, but wasn’t this the joy of battle - to receive and dispense? ( **Skill:** **Expert of Many Specializations EX** \- Increase Own Battle Performance, Guts 1 time, Reduce Enemy Defense, Charge Noble Phantasm, Debuff Immunity)

**“Three Wise Men of the East. The Great God of the Norse. The Fruit of Wisdom. My intellect, my omnipotence, surpasses all forms of wisdom! Uomo Universale!** ” as Da Vinci would chant, she put on her glasses - she always meant business whenever those went on. Her right hand gauntlet would charge up and release her noble phantasm - a magical attack, akin to a ball of condensed magic. It would hoam in on Ruler, exploding in a volatile blast and then creating a vacuum vortex holding them in position.

The nature of the attack was quite simple - it ignored any defensive advantage one could have, as Da Vinci was adept at adjusting her methods of attack to any opponent. A pure blast of magic, capable of bypassing even anti-magical energy abilities. 

“Ooooh, it hurts so good!” Ruler would yell, as they would struggle to get out of the blast.

“And that’s not even half of it, **here it comes! My cannon! Queen Anne's Revenge! Hah, this is TOO easy!** ” Teach would unleash his noble phantasm as well, as a phantom image of Queen Anne’s Revenge would project itself - showering Ruler in cannonball fire. 

Once the dust settled, there was a large crater - but the opponent was still standing. 

Katarina would grind her teeth, she would much rather they incinerated the annoying servant to dust by mistake, after they hurt Chiyome.

“Well, that was wonderful. Thank you for the warmest of welcomes. Now it’s my turn, as I am still standing.” Ruler said, as she activated her last skill. Ruler would do some movement with her hand, as energy would swell their body. (Primordial Runes Increase Own Battle Performance. Noble Phantasm Damage up. Charge Noble phantasm. Ignore invincibility. Significantly increased critical damage and chance up.) “ **Partial Noble Phantasm release approved.** ” 

“Ugh, here it comes…” Da Vinci would hate to admit it, but they could have coordinated this better, they would have to get Katarina to do simulation combat practice. 

“ **Witness the memories worth a thousand lifetimes!** ” Ruler would exclaim, as all present would find themselves somewhere else - on… a frozen lake. Was it some sort of reality marble like Noble Phantasm?

Katarina would look around, this place looked fairly familiar for some reason. It was slippery, but not to the point where she lost her balance - however she realised she was being hit with this as well, so her hand immediately reached for one of the wonder pills - she should have taken one a long time ago!

“This place…” Blackbeard would mutter, as all of them would be looking for Ruler - who seemingly disappeared into the void “Is it me or…” 

“Show yourself!” Chiyome yelled, as she herself would take one of the pills - unlike Da Vinci and Blackbeard, she didn’t have easy access to a revive like ability, in hindsight she should have taken one a long time ago - but she forgot. She was too damn rusty for this.

“Witness me, o brave opponents of mine.” Ruler would be heard from above, she was levitating some several dozen meters above them - they were holding their spear which was pulsating with magical memories “ **Witness, the memories worth fighting for.”**

“Get away from her!” Da Vinci yelled, as she realised what she was about to do - Ruler would proceed immediately as they scattered away, suspending her levitation and piercing the lake with her spear as she fell - the hit would shatter the ice, they all found themselves falling into the cold embrace of water. (Arts damage type resistance down)

They would not find themselves drowning or swimming however, as the ice would shatter and they fell through the water - they would find themselves standing in a mirror version of the same lake, ice intact. Now, it was snowing - as stars would fill the sky, a constellation clearly visible above them. 

“Come, everyone. Let us show them what we can do!” They would hear Ruler once again, as she would now skate alongside the lake - still holding her spear. She would be making circles around them, spirits of some description would join her - one at first, then many others. They would find themselves circled by Ruler and phantoms, as they would slide closer.

Katarina would realise only a little bit into the sequence, what they were etching something onto the ice. It was… oh no!

Katarina would hastily draw up a counter rune to what she figured was an enormous scale gravity amplification rune - sure enough, everyone else but her would get forcibly pushed to the ground. (Stun, 2 turns)

“And now, the grand finale!” Ruler and one particular spirit would make it to the middle, making sure to kick and stomp everyone as they would dance in the middle - excluding Katarina, whom they would leave alone. This dance they performed seemed familiar. _**“Under a Starlit Lake!.”**_

With that, the lake would fade away and Katarina found herself back in the hangar - everyone else was on the ground, alive but beat up. Ruler was instantaneously surrounded by the rest of Katarina’s servants, she didn’t even realise - Ruler clearly broke terms of engagement by dragging her along into… whatever that was.

“Hey, um… would you mind not holding Azrael to my neck, Gramps?” Ruler asked, as the Old Man of the Mountain was that close to decapitating her “I didn’t hurt her at all, just wanted to show her the view, you know? See if the dumbass would realise?”

Katarina blinked, that was kind of a lie - if she didn’t counter etch that rune she would probably be smacked hard against the ice. Wait… the rune… how did she just call Gramps?

“Lying is a sin in it’s own right, even if it's an innocent enough lie. Enough games.” Gramps would conclude, his eyes glimmering in disapproval. 

“Alright, alright… fine.” Ruler would sigh, as she would reach for her mask to take it off. “Once again, I would like to thank everyone for a great welcome. Allow me to introduce myself properly. Ruler class servant, Katarina Claes. At your service and pleasure.”

Katarina would look at what she could now observe clearly was an adult woman - who looked… approximately how she was supposed to look, whenever she would grow up, according to Fortune Lover. The only thing she would manage to let out, alongside everyone else who was not Gramps.

“Eeeeh?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this chapter is finally over, sheesh. Taht took A LOT of work. It's still far from perfect, for which I do apologize. It is my first story ever and ugh, I do my best - but some things are hard.
> 
> Fun fact - this originally was supposed to be the ending, but I've got more ideas since the very first drafts of Chapter 1 through 5. The entire work was supposed to end with Ritsuka and Chiyome in a different dimension somewhere in Arc 1, with that Chiyome being ChiChi from this story - summoning a ruler class servant, who would turn out to be THIS Katarina. To much rejoincing of the both.
> 
> Also ugh, I know most people would have figured who the ruler was - but i still tried to refer to them as "they" just in case. Also, she is a pretty stacked servant - but again. "She is the strongest in the world".  
> Also don't question where her Riding skill comes from.
> 
> AS ALWAYS! I want to thank you for reading the story so far and ugh, do tell me which Characters you'd like me to focus more on! The next arc is "War Prevention & Lots of Hijinx" which is going to be much more... light hearted and fun, despite the name. So, I'll take any suggestions!
> 
> \--- New Servant Summoned! ---  
> True Name: Katarina Claes  
> Class: Ruler  
> Alignment: Chaotic Good  
> STR: B, END: A, AGI: A, MANA: C, LUCK: EX, NP: EX  
> Height/Weight: ??? cm (Whatever she feels like at the moment)・??? kg (Whatever she feels like at the moment)
> 
> \--- Active Skills ---  
> – Unnaturally Born Pervert --  
> High chance to draw attention of all enemies  
> Invincibility 2 times  
> Debuff Immunity 2 times  
> Large chance to score a critical hit
> 
> In life, Katarina Claes was known as an enormous pervert – a woman who had many faithful companions and an enormous family. While she was not like this in life, Heroic Spirits are shaped by their legends – as such this skill is associated with her as a Heroic Spirit.  
> It’s more akin to a curse, making her into a huge pervert – but a charming one, at that. 
> 
> \-- Primordial Runes --  
> Increase Own Battle Performance.  
> Increase Noble Phantasm Damage.  
> Charge Noble phantasm.  
> Ignore invincibility.  
> Significantly increased critical damage and chance up.
> 
> One of the few to be taught Primordial Runes by the All Father herself, Katarina spent a lifetime practicing and improving her craft. There is very little she cannot do with the use of this magecraft.
> 
> \-- Expert of Many Specializations EX --  
> Increase Own Battle Performance  
> Guts 1 time, Reduce Enemy Defense  
> Charge Noble Phantasm.
> 
> In her lifetime, Katarina Claes learned many skills – some by choice, some by happenstance and some by force. The actual list is too long to state here, however it’s relatively safe to assume “whatever it is, it’s on this list”.  
> Debuff Immunity  
> \--- Passive Skills ---  
> Existence Outside the Domain: E  
> Independent Action: A+  
> Riding: EX
> 
> \--- Noble Phantasm ---  
> Under a Starlit Lake  
> The Memories I will Treasure Forever  
> The multipurpose Noble Phantasm of Katarina Claes, it’s a form of a reality marble. It drags those she wishes onto the ice of a frozen lake, where some of her best memories in life have been acquired. There, she can wait out until enchantments fade from her enemies – before plunging them under the lake, where she can call onto memories of her friends and family to help her.  
> Each person in her life has a different effect on the Noble Phantasm outcome, it is also possible to include all of them at the same time – however such overexertion of magical energy will prove fatal to the user.
> 
> \--- Bio ---  
> A happy go lucky servant, who does not hold a particular wish towards the Holy Grail. An enormous pervert, who mothered and fathered countless children and led her people through thick and thin – at least she is remembered that way. At the core of her soul however, a hard working girl who just got through life by pure luck and sees her becoming a heroic spirit as a “well deserved vacation” from all the crap she had to deal in her life.  
> Isn’t very fond of how she was in her childhood, but won’t go Emiya Shirou on herself.  
> “Give thy sword unto my hands.”


	21. Chapter 18 - Soul Mates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew begins settling in with the reality and the plans for the future.

_**“Eeeeh?!”** _

Literally everyone would be staring at Ruler, as she would have a sheepish smile on her face, with which she was hiding a worried face – it’s not that she couldn’t handle an attempted decapitation by Azrael, but it would suck a lot if she had to go through it.

She didn’t fancy running around as a dullahan for the duration of her summoning yet again, like that time she had the pleasure of meeting Okita San in Imperial Capital Holy Grail War… who knew the girl could actually bend space time to make up distance?!

“So, now that we made acquaintances, would you mind moving that sword, Gramps? It’s not that it’s unpleasant or anything, but I’d rather not give that kind of head.” Ruler said, before Gramps would move away Azrael, but not before giving her a hard smack on the back of her head, for the innuendo. “Ow! Suppose I earned that.”

“Eeeeh?! Wha… you… are… what the hell?!” Katarina would finally come to her senses, as she would just look around and point her finger at everyone in confusion “Eeeeeeeeh?!”

“Wow, you’re adorable.” Ruler said, tilting her head “And that’s about all of the positives. Yes, hello – I am you and you, sadly, are me. Nice to meet you.”

As everyone else would be coming to terms with what they were seeing, the two Katarina’s would verbally abuse each other in rapid succession.

* * *

“Could you please stop arguing and help us?” A voice would call out suddenly, causing all of the present to pay them undivided attention. On top of the Shadow Border, still rather tired looking stood a woman with lush orange hair. Wearing a snappy black uniform, it was Fujimaru Ritsuka. “You can argue as much as you’d like after.”

“Oh, have we been arguing for an hour already? Teehee.” Ruler would scratch her head “Whoooops.”

“Whoops, indeed – Ruler. This was not that I expected you to do when you mentioned a welcoming party.” Ritsuka would sigh, observing a clear battlefield in front of her. “Still, it’s nice to see people and solid ground. Thank you for rescuing us.”

“Well… ugh… everyone, help everyone out of that thing.” Katarina said, still not looking away from her adult self. That vile woman was absolutely repulsive!

“You do that, I’m gonna go get a drink, or something.” Ruler said, as if she didn’t just fight a couple of Katarina’s servants – she would just wink in the direction of Chiyome, who was still recovering from that wall impact. She would twitch, rather confused at what to feel.

“That concerns you too!” Katarina would insist, looking at her older self.

“Thankfully, you’re not my master, pipsqueak” Ruler would come closer and pat Katarina ever so gently, as she still felt a presence behind her – Gramps no doubt. “Don’t worry, I won’t break anything on the way. I’m not that reckless.”

Katarina would just glare at her, as she would fix up her hairdo. She did not like herself.

* * *

It would take some time for everyone to get accustomed to the fact that there was another Katarina running around. As in, everyone would freak out at first – as they would begin introducing the situation to everyone who evacuated earlier. She would get lots of stares from everyone, but they would prioritize treating the Shadow Border passengers first over asking questions – Mash and Holmes particularly needed some medical attention, even if Ruler did negate the death and exhaustion runes.

Still, they did eventually all gather – all of Katarina’s friends would be looking between the two, conflicted on how to feel.

Starting the list, would be Geordo – who would just note how… not abrasive, but straightforward this adult Katarina was – she was throwing innuendos all the time and from what he has gathered, she implied they all became a united harem, somehow. Which, was the plan – sort of, as the other option was significantly more unlikely. He was also curious on how much about her life did this Heroic Spirit knew, what kind of events could they peer from her – to each other’s advantage.

Mary was looking and feeling rather elated, it wasn’t even the fact her plan would ultimately prove successful – it was just that she had a living (well, “living”) proof that they all could live a happy life that way, which would be a huge boulder off of her shoulder. She did wonder however about the slight personality shift, as far as Mary knew – Katarina still was quite icky about anything even remotely “adult” at least in public discussions.

Keith would look rather unimpressed, not that he didn’t himself enjoy the situation – but he was having issues hiding all the blushing from all of the quite obvious innuendos. He did himself enjoy that kind of humor in private, but this was just a never-ending barrage of it. And it was quite obvious that all of the jokes were based on their shared history they had no idea about, yet, so he would make a mental note to try and memorize most of the remarks.

Alan had the same irate expression as he still refused to account himself to Katarina’s harem, despite what this new Katarina was saying. He was engaged to Mary, after all – so he would come up with some excuse.

Sophia in turn was just straight up writing down everything, as she would want to write a little lewd scene here or there all the time, but her relatively timid nature and the fact she only ever flirted with Katarina limited the amount of perverse things she had access to in her writing.

Nicol would… ugh. He would just observe for now, being Nicol – however he did seem... Happy. Sophia was pretty sure he was about to burst out laughing, but he wasn’t allowing himself that purely on principle.

And finally Maria… was not really surprised – considering the oddities she observed, as one of Katarina’s secretaries she sort of expected something like that to happen eventually. After all, she knew Katarina was popular and from everything she learned she suspected she could classify as a hero in the future, just she didn’t expect to see it in her lifetime. She would look forward to learning more about how Katarina would turn out in her adulthood and twilight years.

The servants themselves would take it mostly in strides, apart from Lily and Chiyome. Lily was still out cold, her flimsy nature was inconvenient as always and Chiyome was clearly mad about being chucked into the wall like that.

“You really should have held on better, how is that my fault?” Ruler would ask, as they all would be having tentative peace time tea in the mess room. “Especially since I know you don’t like when I hold you too rough.”

“Do I even have to say anything?” Chiyome would sigh, as she sat by Katarina – opposite of Ruler. She acknowledged her as Katarina, but she was… different and not her… not HER Katarina. She supposed it was sort of a pedantic thing to get stuck on.

“You never went easy on me when we trained, this was just payback.” Ruler said, as she would speak up with a mouth full of sweets and other things “Oh, these are delicious!”

“Please don’t… talk with your mouth full.” Miri would finally speak up, she and Luigi had the hardest time accepting what they were seeing in front of them… a good part of it was…

“Oh, I could talk with my mouth full of lots of things mother…” Ruler said, winking to Miri as she would have Katarina’s gandr hit her in the face. “Hey, pipsqueak – you do that again and I’ll snap your index finger like a twig.”

“Stop hitting on our parents! Pervert! Degenerate! Bad person!” Katarina would yell out, they figured out quite soon the only person in the room Ruler didn’t want to have a one night’s stand with was… Fou. “I can’t even begin to describe how disgusting that is!”

“How so?” Ruler would chew on a bunch of croissants “It’s not like I’m made out of flesh and blood now, instead of you know, magical energy. It’s all fair game as far as I can say.”

“They’re a married couple?” Da Vinci would suggest a reason it wasn’t a fair game.

“Oh, please – that just makes it hotter. Oh, speaking of – don’t my two favorite maids in the world get married at some point soon? I recall something like that…” Ruler spoke up “Hey, is droit du seigneur still holds any value at this point?”

Katarina regretted she was drinking tea as her other self was talking, so did Maria – as they both would spit out what tea they just drank.

Ruler would then tank another powerful gandr shot right in the face.

“I’ll take that as a no?”

* * *

As the tea “party” would wrap up, Katarina would go and meet up with the Shadow Border crew – Fujimaru, Goredolf Musik and other several people on the staff who were up and running. They proved to be nice enough people, however Goredolf proved to be quite full of himself – talking like he was nature’s gift to mankind. Katarina would sigh, she did hear good things about him – so she wouldn’t stab his ego in the back at the first opportunity he would present her. Instead…

“Well, in that case Director Musik, feel free to pick up your work quota at the main office in the facility. It needs to be done by tomorrow, it's only… one and a half thousand pages of reports about what Sheba managed to dig up.” Katarina would whistle, as she would kill two rabbits with one stone – leaving the new Director of this enterprise quite aghast. She would then go and speak with Fujimaru herself, who would be staying in the infirmary by the side of their companion – Mash Kyrielight.

* * *

“Hello?” Katarina would ask, as she would enter. The young woman in front of her would turn to observe her.

“Lady Claes.” She would say politely, she was still trying to grasp what was happening – but she was a polite woman and would address her host appropriately.

“How is she doing?” Katarina asked, as she would sit down nearby.

“Much better when she did a while ago, that’s for sure. Thank you and um… Ruler, for that.” Ritsuka was trying to figure out how to refer to a heroic spirit and the real human they represent, not something she usually did. There was usually a second class she could refer to. “Your magic and resources have saved all of us, for which I wanted to thank you once again.”

Ritsuka would stand up and bow down deeply before Katarina, before sitting back down. She was really a sweet person, Katarina could tell straight away.

“You’re welcomed, however I think your thanks should be directed to others, as well as Lily – once she does wake up. They did all the work, after all.” Katarina would smile, she felt inappropriate receiving this praise.

“You are their master, are you not – Lady Claes?” Ritsuka asked “You can’t just give them all the credit like that.”

Katarina would shrug “I suppose not.”

“So is there something you wanted to discuss?” Ritsuka asked, as she held Mashu’s hand.

“What are your plans for the future, Lady Fujimaru?” Katarina would ask, this was the question she needed to get out of the way now.

“… what are my options, Lady Claes?” Ritsuka would ask, after a couple of seconds of silence.

“Well, there are several.” Katarina would say “I could provide you with means to get by easily in our realm, food, shelter, clothing – you name it. From what I’ve heard so far of your exploits, you deserved that much, at the very least.”

Ritsuka would twitch, as she would nod.

“The other option is we will repair your vessel to where it should get you through your journey and let you go, I’m not sure if Chiyome briefed you on the ugh, the whole situation but a version of you clearly have succeeded already so I don’t see why you wouldn’t with… additional help to make up for details.”

Ritsuka would smile “I still have no idea what she was thinking, not warning everyone. I really thought she was gone, for a while. But that’s option two, Lady Claes.”

Katarina would nod “And finally, option three – I would pull what resources I have to help you with your mission, including the above – however there would be… conditions attached.”

“Conditions such as?” Ritsuka would ask, just to make sure.

“Well, no matter what your actions would need to be planned in a way which would not bring any harm to our world, first of all.” Katarina said “I’ve… heard what is happening. And as much as I feel for you…”

“No, no – I understand.” Ritsuka smiled “I totally understand. That sounds easy enough, anything else?”

“You would be employed under me, as such I would expect you to listen to my orders – as rare as those would be.” Katarina said, being dead serious “Even if you were to object to them.”

Ritsuka would look at Katarina, giving her a long look.

“That is also understandable… I know we are a risk.” Ritsuka would ponder.

“You don’t have to decide right now, but I would like an answer sooner or later.” Katarina said, trying to sound reassuring.

“If I were to pick option number two, what would be of Da Vinci? Is she not… yours?” Ritsuka would ask.

“Well, the decision would have to be hers, but…” Katarina would speak up, before Ritsuka would put a finger on her lips. Her glove was rather cold.

“You don’t understand me, Lady Claes. I don’t doubt both her or your dedication, but would she survive being away from you? I looked over her spirit origin…” Ritsuka would look to the bed on the other side of the infirmary “And the fact it’s even holding together is a miracle. I myself am a tenth grade master myself, but even I can tell she will perish if she leaves your side.”

“… yes, there was an unfortunate misunderstanding which led to that.” Katarina would nod “But I’m sure something could be worked out. After all, we got you here and…”

“I think the only option for me, would be the third choice, Lady Claes.” Ritsuka said, looking at her “I do not see number two working out and… option number one… what I deserved…”

Katarina would note Fujimaru would tense up, before letting out a sigh.

“You know, I am not sure if anyone told you of Russian lostbelt – but I still remember all of them. Their faces, their names… they might have been wiped out of history, once we destroyed that blasted tree, but they were real enough sentient beings, Lady Claes.” Ritsuka said, looking at her hands “Others might be used to it, being heroic spirits or… mages. But you know what I see, when I look at these hands?”

Katarina would look at Ritsuka, she wouldn’t bother answering – she had a fairly good idea.

Chiyome did say what even her original Ritsuka – the one who did get her happy ending never quite… never quite got to terms with her PTSD – wiping out entire realities, civilizations, mass murder on unprecedented scale… such was their duty, if they were to save their own world. Sacrifice others, to save their own.

“On one hand, I would like to avoid doing that ever again, however… I made a promise. A promise that their sacrifices would not go in vain. As such, the only path for me is the one going forward – and the only way to do so is to pledge to you, Lady Claes.”

“You’re just a few years older than me, Ritsuka-chan.” Katarina said, tearing up. Fujimaru would twitch, not expecting the “chan”. “How unfair… very well. I respect your decision, even if I think you are allowed to be selfish. As a gesture of good will, allow me to share with you my story – seeing as I know yours pretty well at this point.

* * *

“My fair lady, would you keep me company for a leisure activity?” Ruler would ask, finally locating Chiyome, would let out a groan. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad. Besides, I don’t mean anything lewd, yet.”

“What is it, then, Ruler?” Chiyome would ask, turning to observe the older Katarina. She was an absolutely infuriating person to handle, she figured she would get much more pleasant to be around in a few weeks but for now – she was a bit insufferable.

“I was thinking of borrowing lipstick from our good friend Musik and ugh, let’s just say – playing around with it a little bit. You never know who might swing by, I always wanted to domesticate a fox.” Ruler would give a wild grin, as her eyes would glitter – Katarina’s trademark evil face.

‘Oh. OH.” Chiyome would immediately understand what she meant, that was indeed something they really ought to figure out as soon as possible. “Why, yes – I would love to join you on that task. What do you propose?”

“Well, you go and get the lipstick and then I will show you the rest?” Ruler would extend her grin “I don’t have presence concealment, you see and I’d rather not stress Goredolf too much, the man gets enough flak as is.”

“Yeah… I understand. Very well, I will find you shortly”

* * *

The two would meet up in a basement soon after, Chiyome would claim the very fancy looking lipstick from Goredolf’s persona, a memento from his… companion and the one who played a large part in taking down Chaldea. Tamamo Vitch Koyanskaya. Alter ego, potential beast of humanity and one of the three apostles of Alien God – a sadistic person who is like a rat on a sinking ship, always looking out for her own survival.

“Oh, you’ve got it. Nice.” Ruler said, giggling as she would pick up the lipstick “So, this is the thing she can use as an anchor to check on us. Well now, let’s prepare a little trap for our guest. Help me clean up as I’ll etch the trap.”

“So what exactly do you have planned for this… menace to society?” Chiyome asked, as she would help Ruler out.

“Well, the way she is going to transport is going to channel a little bit of her essence and magical energy into the lipstick container, SO.” Ruler would grin, as she would continue weaving “I will just use it as a receptacle for a magical contract.”

“What kind of contract? Wouldn’t it be easier to just get rid of her?” Chiyome asked “Then again, we do need her later…”

“Well, gorgeous women like Koysnskaya don’t just grow on trees. As sadistic, evil, annoying and petty she is – she is a gorgeous hottie and a concubine is a concubine, Chiyome.” Ruler licked her lips “However, sadly being a heroic spirit I can’t claim her. But I do know someone who can.”

“No. You surely don’t mean…” Chiyome would narrow her eyes “I haven’t agreed to that!”

“What? You don’t think you can out-charm her, or something?” Ruler asked, winking “C’mon, you should know you are the First Lady… and the second of our posse to mother an heir.”

“W-wha?! How would I mother an heir?!” Chiyome would blush “Katarina is clearly a woman!”

“Honey, if you think something like gender means anything when you have magic… you should study more about magic.” Ruler would give Chiyome a curious look “You met Artoria, she had a wife. Still fathered an heir.”

Chiyome would then sigh, shaking her head. She would then look outraged again, once something clicked in her head.

“Wait, second one?! Who’s the first?!” It only now sank in she wasn’t referring to herself as the first mother – since she said posse.

“Ugh… it’s a long story.” Ruler would look away, blushing for once “But Lily wanted to prove something to me and we had a bet, she won the bet we made and ugh… long story short, I had no idea I should have you know… decorate her and not stuff her like a pie? Okay, stop with the look – I already had to apologize once for this. I am not doing it again!”

“Oh, you will and the actual Katarina will if that actually happens!” Chiyome sounded adamant “Can Lily even have… you know? Wouldn’t she like…you know, actually die in the process?!”

“She can, just. But we digress, I think I’m finished here. The moment the dumb-ass going to appear in our realm using this lipstick as her anchor, she’s going to find herself on a tight leash.” Ruler smiled looking at Chiyome. She was still staring her down intently. “Ugh.”

“So…. Um…” Ruler would go after a few more seconds, she was not that good at talking Chiyome down, as everything that came to her mind would probably piss her off more. She also happened to be the one who usually was a force to be reckoned with in their family dynamic.. “Would you care for a spot of tea?”

“Second?!” Chiyome would really hang up on that fact.

“Hey, you want to be the first – I can conjure some equipment for the pipsqueak and you go wild, right now.” Ruler would cross her hands “Otherwise, get in line.”

Chiyome would blush and turn away, also crossing her arms. She would think “I want to know everything about our family.”

“Of course you want to… well, it’s a looooong story.” Ruler said “So let’s go get that spot of tea and I’ll tell you everything?”

“Well… fine, but any perverted jokes and you ARE going to get it. If not now, at some point in the future.”

“Sweet, I mean – oh no…” Ruler would giggle, as Chiyome would give her a hit with her shoulder. “Tea it is, then.”

* * *

It would take some time for Ritsuka and Katarina to reach an agreement, once all of the cards were on the table. Katarina wanted to help where she could, as she felt for the woman in front of her. Ritsuka on the other hand was amazed how much Katarina went through, for her apparent age as well. Reincarnation, huh…

“So in that case, going forward – assuming the Director will green-light this, I will be calling you Boss, Lady Katarina.” Ritsuka would giggle, scratching the back of her head “Sure would be nice to have a solid base to call home again, especially one which is pretty much looks and smells like home.”

“Ugh…” Katarina wanted to plant her face into the wall, yet another moniker someone would call her as? Please, save her. “As long as you don’t call me anything weird, it should be fine.”

“Right… I get you. Believe me, I really do.” Ritsuka said seriously “Lady Katarina is fine by me, then. I get called lots of different things, by a lot of my friends.”

“Thank you. Now, you should stay by Mash until she rouses up – do tell me when she does. I would like to meet her as well.” Katarina mentioned “She sounds like a sweet girl.”

“Sweetest in the world. Just ugh, she’s… my kouhai, Lady Katarina. I know you aren’t Ruler, but I will fight you on that one.” Ritsuka said, half joking as Katarina would just giggle nervously. “It’s not me you should be worried about, but you have my permission to kick my older self butt if she gets uppity.”

* * *

It wouldn’t take more than a day for Mash to wake up, she was beat up – yes, but not to the extent Sherlock was, as such she would be up and running relatively fast. It took her some time to take a handle of things, especially with a whole new Chaldea setup – which Goredolf did gladly approve of, because he wasn’t a suicidal idiot to refuse such help just because of pride and conventional wisdom – and to get to know everyone new.

The timid girl would not particularly enjoy the company of Ruler that much, mostly because she didn’t enjoy that kind of rowdy humor she seemed to be fond of – but her younger version was a classy lady and was much more… timid? Down to earth? Serious? She honestly couldn’t really say – but out of the two she vastly preferred Katarina.

Then again, it’s not like she would ever speak up about who she didn’t like or like – the only person she ever was forward about it was Sir Lancelot and even that was more of a running gag, more so than her actual feelings. She was, of course, thankful to be alive. She was thankful senpai was alive. She was thankful everyone else was alive.

It was a great blessing and from what she gathered, they would get an opportunity to fight for their world, so it was literally the best case scenario – especially after how grim their situation looked upon leaving Russian lostbelt.

She just wished… she didn’t have to wear a dress she was given.

Now, she wouldn’t judge this new world by any stretch of the imagination, but it was just not very comfortable to her. No matter what she did, it was… itchy or the corset would sit just a little tiny bit off and it felt wrong. Maybe she would get used to it, but so far – it was relatively annoying.

* * *

It took two more days for Sherlock to come to his senses, the death rune had been disabled some time ago – but he was buttered up quite so. He would be pleased with what information he has been told upon waking up, coming to a conclusion that they got rather lucky in acquisition of a new set of allies.

The first thing he would ask however, upon catching a glimpse of Asclepius, was…

“No, I’m afraid we don’t produce nor will we produce cocaine, Holmes. Whatever you got in your stash, you better save it up.” Asclepius said, that was final.

“Oh, come on – don’t be like that, it helps me concentrate on the case at hand.” Holmes would insist, he was lying of course – he could do just fine without his prized “past time”, but if he could reasonably get his hands on some again…

“Do you want me to strap you to the bed?” Asclepius would raise an eyebrow. “can’t you go annoy someone else by figuring something out and withholding information until the very last minute, as you usually do?”

“Mmm, well you all appear to know more than you letting me know, that’s for sure – I figured that one out, however I do not yet know why.” Sherlock would think “Also I’m fairly sure our host is reincarnated into this world, however I don’t have physical prove to it.”

Asclepius would sigh “If I hook you up, will you shut up and leave things as they are?”

“Why, but of course – never bite the hand which feeds.”

* * *

Finally, Lily would be the last to wake up – it was a well known point she was flimsy, but no one quite anticipated her to be out for a week. It was also unfortunate for her, as the one who would meet her as she woke up ended up being…

“Ugh… hello?” Lily would open her eyes with some effort, looking around. She was alive, good – she was in infirmary, less good… there was someone by her bedside.

“Oh, Lily! You finally woke up! It has been… so long!” Ruler would hug her, not saying a lie – but not specifying exactly how long it has been.

“Wha… mistress? Wha-whaaaAA?! How long have I been out?!” Lily would freak out, as she realized Katarina was looking at least a decade older, she had quite a large chest too. “Wha, hang on, hang on…”

Lily would begin hyperventilating, as Katarina would let her go. She would take a closer look at her, wait… the person in front of her was not a human being…

_**“Eeeeh?!”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time around, as I have a fever at the moment. I still would like some viever feedback on who you want to get some specific spotlight on, the next few chapters are already planned - but there is space to fit in extra focus.
> 
> Also, I am really glad everyone was positive about the "plot twist". :>
> 
> Also, Ruler is a pretty unreliable narrator - just thought it would be important to note.


	22. Chapter 19 - Rumors, Bargains and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some silly moments, some serious moments. The Academy days are almost upon us all, everyone.

With everyone and everything up and running, as well as her promises fulfilled for now, Katarina would let out a happy sigh. As she would be lying by Chiyome’s side, she would think of all that transpired in the last… well, at this point it was almost five years, huh? Time sure did fly by fast, she learned, experienced and lived through so many things – it still felt surreal.

These five years have been perhaps the most challenging, chaotic years in both her lives so far – but they were filled with blessings and happy memories, a life she would not trade for anything. Still, she did wonder what the future held in store for her…

There were uncertain times ahead, sure – but she would make it through, they all would. With Shadow Border saved and Goredolf handling Chaldean side day to day operations going forward, this was now one burden off her shoulders. Ruler was annoying, but she proved to be an exceptionally versatile and useful person – even if Katarina did want to kill her more often than not. She felt the desire was shared between the two of them, she wondered if that’s how Emiya Shirou felt…

Still, as happy as Katarina felt, something in the back of her mind bothered her ever so slightly. Was there perhaps more she could have done, without making everyone around her freak out at her overworking herself, she wondered.

Katarina’s pondering would then be interrupted as the sound of snoring would fill the room, ChiChi was finally asleep, properly. Giving her a smile, Katarina would carefully leave the bed before she would snuggle her in tight – it was time to have a little adventure.

She would go for an enthusiastic walk, the kind she used to do in her old days – to get a glass of water in the kitchen and sit outside, just looking at the moon. She needed to have a serious talk with… herself.

* * *

As I arrive at the kitchen, I know she is out there, just outside the kitchen – sitting on the bench. Even if I don’t see Ruler, I can see the cup of water on the bench sitting there unattended. Well, can I be pretty dense at times, huh.

I pick up a cup and fill it with water, not from a barrel this time but from a faucet. The moment the cup is full, I head outside and sit down on the bench. Putting down my cup near the other I look up higher into the sky, waiting for her to speak up – if she will. She should, eventually.

“Why did you come here, pipsqueak?” the older me leaves her spirit form, she is sitting by my side on the bench – gazing into the moon just as well.

“I feel like we need to talk, if that’s alright with you.” I ask, there is a fair chance she wouldn’t want to talk, but I feel it’s important – for the both of us.

“Huh.” My older self goes, then she falls silent. “You know, I wonder how fate really works at times.”

“What does fate have to do with anything?” I ask, slightly confused – her reaction is a bit surprising. You’d think she would go through all of the same trials and tribulations I did.

“Do you think you’re a good person, Katarina?” she asks suddenly “And I’m not being pedantic here or anything, do you think so?”

The question takes me off my guard a little bit, I reply “I don’t think I’m a bad person, but I don’t think I’m a “good” person.”

It was just a fact, I could do a lot more for the “good” of the world, but I couldn’t really be bothered. I was rich beyond imagination – yet charity wasn’t something I even considered doing, not until right now – thinking about this question. I helped to save a lot of people, but that was done just to cover for my own mistakes. Honestly, everything I’ve done – I’ve mostly done in my own name, or for my friends or family.

“Hm. A fair point.” Ruler replies “You are a better person than I am, which is funny – I figured we would be the same.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, now she left me utterly confused.

“Well, when I was alive – I would never consider actively seeking out my older self. It’s kind of funny, really.” Ruler replies, making me question my sanity.

“So you also had… yourself around, when you were me? Are we just going in circles?” My head begins to bring in the hurt as I try to wrap that bit together. Feels… overwhelming.

“Clearly not. But yes, I had… myself around. I never particularly liked her, she was kind of a bitch…” Ruler replies, I find her answer ironic in a way. “I know I am like that myself, I can’t do much against what I am as a heroic spirit. Nor do I want to, I lived a long, long life filled with duties and responsibilities – I want to have my rest too. Even if it's in undeath.”

“But… hm…” I think about what she means by all of that “So we never had that chat?”

“No, we didn’t. In fact, I made sure to distance myself and everyone else from ugh, me. This is confusing to speak about, but you could say I could have played it better.” Ruler answers, thinking “Perhaps with each cycle, it gets better. Perhaps not, I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

“But what does it have to do with me thinking if I’m a good person or not?” I ask, that question felt out of a blue.

“Well, let’s see here – just hear me out. Is Blackbeard still enforcing the Quid blockade?” Ruler asks, ugh… it’s a question I don’t know an answer to.

“I don’t know.”

“Have you made an effort to expand all of the wonders you developed outside of Sorcier? You do trade, yes – but trade for materials is just one thing you could be doing.” Ruler asks another question.

“I… no, I can’t say I have done anything like that.” Where was she going with this?

“Well, what if I told you what Quid is going through the worst famine in it’s history right now, due to – oh, some jackass sinking every ship carrying anything to them for the past year or so. Or that maybe while Sorcier is a nice enough place to live now, the mortality is low – the wages are good and the folks are happy, other countries aren’t doing so hot?” Ruler asks.

I look at her, I suppose all that she said made sense. I believe I even acknowledged some of these things at some point before, but I probably didn’t care enough to think too much about it. “So it is my fault…”

“No, not really. You are just one woman, well – girl, I won’t call you a woman until you actually get some, but the point stands. It’s not your job to be the savior of the world.” Ruler looks up to the moon “But the fact you bothered to come and ask, still makes you a better person than me. You probably not even listening to me right now, are you?”

I myself haven’t been listening to the last few sentences, but I think Ruler is throwing me an annoyed look. It softens a little bit, but doesn’t disappear. I feel a kick on my forehead, now it’s my turn to glare at her.

“In my lifetime, Quid ceased to exist as a nation. They were out for my blood, they would take no for an answer and would not surrender – as such, they would be purified in the sacred flame of Ishtar’s bow, who by the way – you should summon sooner, rather than later. For all her vanity, she is useful. And sexy.”

“The entire nation?” I ask, horrified.

“Well, they did consider you the crux of all their issues. You were. Propaganda worked wonders, too. They wanted blood one way or another, so they got their own… and as far as I’m aware not many have survived, since my reputation appears to be less violent then I would expect. Then again, not sure why I sound so surprised – the pyre which Ishtar left out of their capital… I doubt even many heroic spirits would survive that.”

“You’re not a bad person either, if that’s where you are going with this.” I reply, looking at Ruler.

“Hm. Don’t need to tell me, I know I’m awesome. What was I supposed to do, offer myself to the gallows? Please.” Ruler smiles, patting my head “I don’t care about it, simply but, but you appear to care. As such, I think you’re a better person then I am.”

“Stop messing up my hair…” she is being annoying again, really now. Every time she would make sure to ruffle up my hair enough to be annoying.

“No, because you’re hella cute when you’re angry.” Ruler puts her hand on my shoulder.

“Please don’t hit on me, it’s kind of creepy.” I say, immediately. Maybe she does it on purpose, maybe it’s just her instinct - but it has to stop.

“… sorry.” she removes her hand “Still, I know plenty – if you willing to put that information to good use.”

“… yeah. Please tell me everything. Let’s prevent this war together, Ruler.”

“You won’t be able to prevent it fully, Katarina. You can probably talk down Quid, if we start immediately. You can for sure deal with Etran, Nova, Ethenell and Xiarmah, but Lousabre… they are going to go through a civil war, one way or another. That civil war is what's going to spark the whole powder keg, mind.”

“A civil war… I heard the crime rate there is incredibly high, is that why?” I ask, thinking about it. Lousabre was known for it’s dangerous streets and high crime, unlike other nations – which were mostly known for their positives.

“Yes. The heir of their noble house is going to catch a plague, after her visit to one of their allied nations, you will be summoned, pleaded to, really – to come and save her. You would manage, easily enough – it’s nothing too serious, but imagine how people would feel – seeing you come running to save the noble lady, after the royal family would not lift a finger to make their nation any better? Instead of asking you literally anything else, they would ask for the health of their daughter.”

“And propaganda takes it from there, huh?” I ask, figures. Rumors, lies – all were tools people used relatively freely.

“Yeah. Now, since the civil war begins with you being in the capital – they would attempt to take you hostage, since you are a valuable asset yourself, plus a noble - as such one of the “bad guys”. Well, let’s just say it would not sit well with anyone – the resulting hustle would make Sorcier public enemy number one to the new government, so they would have no choice but to go to war.”

‘Really? That sounds foolish…” I reply, thinking about how much of a powerhouse Sorcier was at this point.

“New government, they either make ends meet or they find their heads in the gallows. They declare war, others follow. Massacre happens – after the dust settles, you, or well – what I did was swing in like an angel and offer help to everyone in need. I honestly meant well, but in the end it was kind of on me. Oh well.”

“And everyone couldn’t stop it before it happened?” I ask, in slight disbelief.

“Oh, they tried. But you see, when people are miserable – you might remove some of the rot from the kingdom, sure. But think of it as if it was a body. You remove some rot, but slowly – another piece of it rots. You remove it, again and again and eventually the body becomes half carved out and people… begin to ask questions. Everyone has loved ones, Katarina and assassins aren’t always the sneakiest people in their methods.”

My face goes pale, it was true – while… she was a peaceful person, she had to admit – heroic spirits weren’t that peaceful, realistically speaking. Even Chiyome and Asclepius pretty much forced Maria and Cecilia into our circles, even if that is just a nasty memory from back then.

“What we did was cripple these nations, to make sure we could crush them. In hopes they wouldn’t begin war, that is – but when people are desperate enough, they don’t see impossible odds against themselves. They just see a pit they are falling into, so what are they to do? Accept it?” Ruler sighs “Lousabre is in that pit already, but maybe there is still something we can do about others.”

“But why did the other me, your Ruler haven’t done anything?” I ask, trying to make sense of all of it.

“Because I never asked her. I would keep quiet myself, if you wouldn’t be here. My life happened, it's the way I think it should happen. Yet, at the same time - you are clearly not me, so your life will have to be different, somehow. I can answer questions and help, but it's not my job to live your life for you.”

‘So what would you do?” I ask, just for reference.

“Ugh. Entrust the process to you, which I am doing right now? You clearly don’t understand, I’ve dealt with all of this already. Relatively badly, mind. What can I tell you? Help other nations to improve themselves, don’t just trade with them – put in an actual effort. Talk with Her Majesty about this, tell her how things are. If Sorcier made a conscious effort to act as a good neighbor once again, I doubt people would want to go to war. After all, a nation is nothing without its people.” Ruler picks up a cup and drinks some out of it.

“That’s fair.” I reply, looking her over, smiling. So she still was a simple person, under all of that facade after all. “You don’t know.”

“I didn’t say that. I know everything, pipsqueak. I’m you but better.” Ruler huffs and turns away.

“Riiiight. Didn’t you just say I was a better person?”

“Shut up. ”

* * *

It wouldn’t be long before Katarina left Ruler’s company, to stretch her legs before going back to bed – Ruler would sigh and hum something.

“You can turn off presence concealment now, ChiChi. You really should hurry, I doubt she will be stretching her legs too long.”

Chiyome would appear shortly thereafter, raising an eyebrow.

“How did you…” Chiyome would ask, curious.

“Please, I never could even pick my own nose in bed without you knowing, let alone go somewhere... and you are one nosy person.” Ruler smirked, looking at Chiyome “We have a couple of minutes to talk, was there anything you wanted to ask?”

“Why did you lie to her?” Chiyome would ask “About not getting involved? You clearly are getting yourself involved, behind the scenes.”

“Doing things for fun and profit is not the same as saving the world, ChiChi.” Ruler would scratch her head, awkwardly “I might have overemphasized some things but I didn’t lie outright. Everything else is up to her to figure out, not me.”

“The more time I spend with you, the more confused I get.” Chiyome would sigh “So, I have a question – before I leave you… I had some time to think about all of what you told me, how… were they?”

Ruler would fall silent for a second, then would chuckle. “Pardon me?”

“You know what I mean. You told me a lot, but you didn’t tell me much about the… kids.” Chiyome would sit down.

“They were wonderful, what is there to say? I love all of them, even if all of them were a collective pain in my butt.” Ruler would sigh, lamenting. “All of them had their quirks, but…”

“Do you reckon they will be the same in this life?” Chiyome would cut to the chase, looking at Ruler.

“I…” Ruler would look into the moon “I hope so. Have you ever missed your first love, ChiChi? From when you were alive? It’s…”

“Say no more. The memories might be distant, but they are who we are…” Chiyome sighs “Well, I guess being second isn’t that bad.”

“Are you STILL hanging up on that? Oh, begone from my sight you petty woman!”

“Yeah, yeah… I need to get back to bed anyway.”

* * *

First thing in the morning, Katarina would visit Nicol to have him relay the new set of orders for Blackbeard, the two would have a little discussion about the new policies going forward.

“This would be a complete reversal of everything we worked on so far, Katarina.” Nicol would point out, expecting an explanation - but not finangling for one, nor trying to dissuade her. He was a wonderful business partner in that regard.

“Yeah… I think we’ve done enough harm, Nicol.” Katarina would sigh, smiling “And well, going forward with a smile seems much better than going forward with a sword in hand.” 

“You usually do both yourself.” Nicol would remind her, he did see her spar a couple of times before - Katarina usually kept up a pleasant smile as she would wave around her weaponry around like a maniac.

“... you know what I mean.” Katarina said, pouting. “Still, I hope this won’t cause you too much problems with your father?”

“Father will do what His Majesty will tell him to do and His Majesty will do whatever Her Majesty will tell him to do.” Nicol said “As such, I see little to no problems going forward on this new course - as long as Her Majesty is on board.”

“I asked my older self to explain everything to her, as she knows more than me about the situation.” Katarina would explain, Nicol would stiff a chuckle. Oh no, that was bad. “E-excuse me, Nicol? Is something wrong?”

“Oh, nothing, Katarina. Just thinking if we should expect Her Majesty to walk funny after the meeting.” he said, his deadpan delivery just adding to Katarina’s shock.

The idiot wouldn’t! Surely!

* * *

Having suppressed her desire to go and check up on Her Majesty immediately, Katarina would just spend some time with Nicol and Sophia, they would drink some tea and just talk about life, Nicol was set to start his education in Magical Academy soon, so it could have been one of the last times they would have the free time to do this, at least for a little bit.

“You know, I think you will have an amusing time at the Academy yourself, Katarina.” Nicol would mention, causing Katarina to stop chewing on sweets for a second.

“Oh? Why’s that?” She would continue her sweets themed retribution against the pastries.

“You… will find out, eventually.” he would say, raising an eyebrow. It was a bit unlike him to be coy like that, but he honestly thought she would know what he meant. 

“I can’t wait for Academy years! It’s going to be like 2 years of vacation, compared to everything else.” Sophia would chime in, switching the topic - she was well aware what her brother meant, so she would for sure make sure to be there when Katarina would realise. “Especially for you, Katarina.”

“2 years of vacation…” Katarina would mumble, just thinking about it. “That sounds amazing… maybe I could even start a little garden somewhere on the grounds, that could be cool to see what would grow there!”

The Ascarts would look between each other, then back to Katarina. Neither would find it in themselves to tell her how unlikely it was anything would be allowed to grow there for long.

* * *

“And that’s how you do it, Your Majesty.” Ruler would smirk, looking at the Queen who was NOT in a walking condition right at that very moment. “If you wish further lessons at some point, mmm… those cost extra.”

“Ahem…” Her Majesty would catch up on her breath, this was… exhausting. “Fine, I see your point. Still, I hardly think that strategy would work well for us in the long term.” 

‘Why not? Sorcier will still be more advanced in every aspect, after all - that’s where we live, is it not? It’s just, playing the good guy on the block might help us out, for once… and everyone who wouldn’t play ball… Lady Claes will have them well handled.”

“Hm… well, if she will have them as handled as you handle people… alright then. We can try to play saints, as much as I’d rather to just crush them.” Her Majesty would reply, looking Ruler over “Say, do you have lessons like that aimed for… suitors?”

“Oh, I do. But they cost extra.” Ruler would reply with a grin.

“Oh, just name the price already.”

“Well..”.

* * *

“These are some exquisite jewels, Ruler.” Katarina would say, looking over a fine selection of stones she brought in. “Where have you… actually, never mind – I DO NOT want to know. Thank you.”

“You’re welcomed. You might want to summon her straight away, she doesn’t like being summoned in dangerous situations.” Ruler would wave Katarina off, as she would head for the exit.

“W-wait, that’s a catalyst?” Katarina would blink, looking at the jewels again.

“Yes? What… you didn’t think it was a gift, did you? I thought you were aga…” Ruler would turn around, before dodging a gandr aimed at her face “So, jewels is your little weak spot, huh? My little dragon, I’ll note that down.”

“Shut up and go to hell!”

As Ruler would leave, Katarina would pick the jewels and would head to the summoning circle. She would get this out of the way and maybe her blush would go away in the process.

She… hasn’t done a summoning for a little bit now, she honestly wondered what this Ishtar person was like, she assumed this is who would answer the call – considering what Ruler talked about prior.

Well… here goes nothing.

* * *

Having made the track to the Chaldea, Katarina would enter the summoning room they set up in the place - it was a much more advanced place to summon heroic spirits in, currently it was not in use. Seems Lily did not set up all what was needed for Fujimaru to take full use of the facility, but it would work for Katarina’s needs. Placing the jewels into the catalyst compartment, she would begin chanting.

**“Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”**

This time, there were no flashes - the summoning would get handled mostly by the systems installed in the room, unlike previous summons which were mostly a large case of “random”. It felt quite different, all things told - much more pleasant. Katarina would look at who materialized in front of her, only to be met by… half naked Tohsaka Rin?!

“The goddess Ishtar has come in response to your summons. As the Goddess of Beauty, I rule over Venus, but also govern fertility, war, and destruction, so you had best respect me deeply…” Ishtar would say all mighty, looking at her tiny master. “Um… aren’t you a little bit too short to be a Master, little girly?”

“Um… aren’t you Tohsaka Rin?!” Katarina would yell out, causing Ishtar to panic.

“How do you know the name of my host?! Who the hell are you anyway?! Please keep it down, it’s embarrassing me!”

“Are all Heroic Spirits like this?” Katarina would plant her face into her palms. “Very well, hello - Ishtarin. My name is Katarina Claes.”

“Don’t call me that! I am Goddess Ishtar and you will refer to me like that!” Ishtar would have a hissy fit.

_ “No.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--- New Servant Summoned! ---  
> True Name: Ishtar (Tohsaka Rin)  
> Class: Archer  
> Alignment: Lawful Good (lol)  
> STR: B, END: B, AGI: B, MANA: EX, LUCK: A, NP: A++  
> Height/Weight: 159cm・47kg  
> Magic Resistance A  
> Independent Action A  
> Goddess' Essence B
> 
> Goddess Ishtar, using vessel known as Tohsaka Rin as her body. Vain, silly person - who also moonlights as a mobile ICBM. Has a particular weak spot for golden archers, garchers and orange haired heroes of justice.  
> Loves watching people suffer, but can't just leave them that way, so she always ends up saving them. What a tsundere. She has a tendency of taking anything shiny back home.
> 
> Shoutout to CrimIsBestAngel for rolling Ishtar as your resident useless goddess! https://i.imgur.com/RPRMSwS.png https://i.imgur.com/hVwg7Al.png <3


	23. Chapter 20 - A Race Through Dark Places (Etran)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A beginning of a large journey, filled with plenty of opportunities.

All told, it did not take long for Katarina to figure out why Ruler suggested summoning Ishtar specifically, she had a very unique feature about herself, which would prove immensely useful in all aspects of life.

_**She could fly.** _

And not just fly, but tag people alongside her using her bow Maanna as an improvised boat – at the very least Katarina and Chiyome could fit in relatively snugly, which opened up tons of possibilities, as long as one could handle Ishtarin and her antics…

Which was a long list of antics, all told – kleptomaniac, petty, loud, greedy and took great pride in her magical education – as such, Katarina did upset her a fair bit, being a newbie at magic with way too good magic circuits and way too strong a magecraft, especially once she found out she wasn’t even a born magus.

Still, she wasn’t that bad most of the time… at least she was easy to handle due to her flaws – a promise of a few gems did get her going pretty fast, so with that knowledge Katarina would plan out a trip – to visit every other country in the world, on the down low. 

Or well, as down low as possible – her face perhaps was rather well known in noble circles, but the common folk really shouldn’t recognize her that easily, especially in far away kingdoms – so in theory it was completely, totally safe.

“So you're already planning a honeymoon, huh?” Lily would ask, as she, Katarina and Maria were gathered in Katarina’s office, they were wrapping up some long term issues so it was possible for Katarina to take this “exploratory vacation” trip. “That’s good for you, mistress.”

“Lily! It’s nothing like that! I just want to see how the situation is really out there, in the world at large! It’s important to know these things if we are to make real, tangible change!” Katarina would also give Lily a stink eye, she wondered if Ruler was a negative influence on Lily. Then again, Da Vinci was kind of a known pervert to begin with…

“Mmm, didn’t you have a discussion about saving the whole world, Katarina?” Maria asked “I recall being told something like that after you know, that one time you were indulging in…”

“I wasn’t indulging in anything, Mariiiiiiiaaaa!” Katarina would hide her face in her hands “I’m not a pervert!”

“Of course, Lady Katarina” Maria said, perfectly innocently absolutely not taking joy from teasing her like that “I understand it was just out of necessity, after all I did forget to return your footrest to you.”

“When did my sweet Maria turn into such a meanie…” Katarina would sigh, now causing Maria to blush.

“I think it’s inevitable, considering how much time we spend together.” Maria would note “Still, I would like to come for an adventure with you myself some time, Katarina. It’s not fair. Me and Lily are always the one’s left to do paperwork, you know.”

“Yeah, it would be nice once in a while.” Lily would join Maria, after taking a moment to think about it. 

“W-wha… w-well, it’s not always….” Katarina would think about it, she did put a lot of work on both of them… but she did want to come with Chiyome, what to do, what to do.

“Not to sound like Geordo used to back in the day, but are you trying to steal MY fiance?” Chiyome’s voice would speak up, as she would exit spirit form – sitting on the table.

Katarina would give her an unamused look, before abruptly pushing her off “Wha?! Katarina!”

“Quit sitting on my table!” Katarina would fume, Asclepius she could understand – the good doctor was an ass, Lily wanted to piss her off every once in a while, that was fine – but ChiChi of all people should know she hated when people did this!

Chiyome would look between Maria and Lily who would be giggling, after witnessing this and would show her tongue to Katarina “And here I had a suggestion to make.”

“You can still make it, while sitting on any of these beautiful, serviceable chairs, sofas and other objects to place your cute butt on, ChiChi.” Katarina would note, keeping a stern tone “So what was it?”

Chiyome would sit down on the sofa, trying not to wake up Fou who was sleeping on it as usual “Well, what I wanted to say – I’m pretty sure Maanna can fit you three in pretty easily and I could just ask Teach to fetch me a ride… as much as you all deserve a little break, I am not trusting the three of you to take care of yourself on your own and Ishtar isn’t good at bodyguarding.”

The three would look between each other, before going “Fair.”

  
  


“But wouldn’t they realize something is fishy if they would see a Sorcier ship approaching in most cases?” Maria would ask, she understood the basic abilities of Heroic Spirits but she wasn’t sure how… close would the ship need to get.

“It doesn’t need to be particularly close, so… If Katarina is okay with this, I don’t see any reason not to do it this way.” Chiyome said “Spirit form travel works fine across water for quite a distance, especially if Katarina is close.”

“Well, in that case – if there are no objections, the planned world tour is a go!” Katarina stood up, lifting her fist up – everyone else would follow.

* * *

“Huh? Wouldn’t the rest of your friends be mad for you not taking them along?” Ishtarin inquired, having gotten a general understanding of how things worked around here – her master was another hopeless case of a harem protagonist, just like… a few infuriating people she knew.

“They are all way too busy to come along, besides I’m not going to tell them…. AND I am going to take them on the other adventures.” Katarina said, as she, Lily and Maria would carefully attach their seats to Maanaa and sit down, it was a little bit of a touch and go setup, but it would work just fine.

“If you say so, Master.” Ishtarin would mumble, as she would sigh “My poor Maanna turning into a public bus… where did life take me.”

“Oh shut up, this is nothing.” Lily said, as she was literally strapped in like a little baby. She was not happy about it.

“I suppose… very well, let’s take off!” Ishtar would levitate up, motioning Maanna to follow “Our first destination is… ugh…. What was it called.”

“Etran, the nation known for its strong trade. It should be the most peaceful out of all the nations, as we do trade a lot with them, even if there are tensions. They are just North of Sorcier.” Katarina would say, as she felt the breeze hit her – they were actually flying! “Woah, this is sweet.”

“Waah!” Maria was taking the height a little bit worse, just hanging onto the arch of the bow with all she had – Lily was strapped in to the max already, so she just looked around.

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights? Pffff.” Ishtarin would giggle covering her smirk with a hand “Well, this is nothing yet – hold on to your hands! Full throttle!”

They would zoom after, suddenly Lily wasn’t so mad about being strapped in so tight.

* * *

The trip did not take that long at all, not at the speed Ishtar flew them – thankfully none of them would throw up, not had any… other mishaps. Having arrived at Etran’s capital, landing onto solid ground – the three would just hug the solid ground under their feet.

“Aaaw, you’re all so cute.” Ishtarin would giggle, she miiiight have gone faster than she would usually – but she wasn’t about to tell them that. They were definitely talking smack about her behind her back, so it was only fair.

“I’ll remember this, Ishtar.” Katarina would threaten, lifting her head slightly “Well, at least we are here…”

As they would all recover, Ishtar would take to the air – she wasn’t particularly sneaky, but she could see for miles around when she was in the air, so she would overlook the girls as they would begin their exploration of Etran’s capital – _**Raseir**_. A grand city, sprawling for miles as a giant maze, connected with a clever system of trade routes, all integrated into the everyday life of the city.

Known as the trade capital of the world, it was not the most beautiful place, but perhaps the most busy place in the entire world – after all, one could buy practically anything here, as long as one would know where to look.

Shops, bazaars, trading companies – it looked absolutely full of life on the outside, but as the girls would explore they would begin noticing a pattern.

“You know, I don’t actually see many…. Residents.” Lily would note, as they would be passing by another spice shop, she was a little bit exhausted at this point – but would carry on. “Oh, that’s some nice jewelry tho…”

“Yeah, it’s much more… like a big shop.” Maria would note, picking a few choice bits and purchasing them, she wasn’t usually a big spender - so she was picking all sorts of fancy things up. “It’s kind of fun in a way.”

“Mmm, big shop is an apt description.” Katarina said, staying polite. At least it was kind of fun to shop, she picked up some handkerchiefs for everyone as souvenirs. 

“Ooooh, Lily - check that thing out!” Maria would say suddenly poking Lily and pointing somewhere “You probably would be able to fit in.”

“Oooh, good catch!” Lily said “Would I look good in that, mistress?”

“Huh?” Katarina would blink, looking where the two of them would look. She would blush. “Oh, out of the question.”

“Oh, I am so getting it.” Lily would reach for her purse.

“Oh you are so not getting it.” Katarina said, threateningly raising her command seals.

“Oh, but I am so getting it to her, as a present.” Maria said high fiving Lily “Whatcha gonna do, boss?”

“Maria! Don’t feed the pervert!” Katarina would look at Maria, as she already reached for her purse. “Ugh…”

She wondered if whoever designed the outfit in question was reincarnated and happened to watch Star Wars, at some point in time. Well, whatever.

‘I think we should stop somewhere for the night, everyone. Let me handle some rooms.” Katarina would say after the shopping was done, leading the girls to what seemed like a respectable establishment and renting a large room for all three of them.

* * *

Having settled down, Katarina would begin etching an array of runes – for sanctuary and protection, just in case. Once that was done, she would sigh having realised Lily already tried her new outfit on.

“Could you please put on something… less translucent and scandalous?” Katarina would ask, tilting her head “Or like, clothing. Thanks in advance.”

“No, where would be fun in that?” Lily asked, as she would help Maria try on some jewelry “Oh, this is a nice necklace.” 

“You know, I expected this city to be much more…” Katarina would change the subject to try to put into words what she thought.

“Alive? Less artificial?” Lily would ask, looking at Katarina, she had lots of fun purchasing things - but she could tell the whole thing stinked.

“Less creepy?” Maria would note, she was probably the one most unsettled by how the city appeared from the outside. “You know, we got some kind of ugh, unwanted stares as we went by, even more so than our purses deserve… are those runes enough to protect us, Katarina?”

“Should be.” Katarina noted “We also have Ishtar up in the air and Chiyome should be close by, right about now. Relax, Maria – everything is going to be okay.”

“Well… if you say so, but let’s just talk it all over…” Maria would sigh, as they would talk about everything they saw, before calling it a night.

* * *

As the girls would head to bed, Katarina would just stare into the ceiling – she was pretty sure something was going to happen, despite saying everything would be fine earlier. She just sort of knew these things, at this point in her life - never a dull moment.

“Chiyome, are you here?” Katarina would ask with their mental link, she wasn’t particularly close – as the answer would come a little bit late.

“I’m somewhat close, just… examining some things. I can be there at a moment's notice, if need be, Katarina.” Chiyome would reply “Are you in danger?”

“Hm… no, but now that I think about it, I think we are being watched.” Katarina would admit, as she would focus around herself - there was someone outside the window “Nothing I can handle. What are you examining?”

Chiyome would take some time to answer “Just some scumbags. Nothing worth mentioning, once I’ll gut all of them.”

Katarina would sigh, figures – so there was something vile in the grounds here. “Just take care, ChiChi. Love you.”

* * *

“Love you too, Katarina.” Chiyome would muse, as she would take another look around what was a rather spacious warehouse space – it was filled with all manner of illegal goods, including a “healthy” amount of slaves – as well as a bunch of people guarding the merchandise. None of them were particularly amazingly geared, seemingly to be able to blend in – in case of some sort of raid or inspection, but they were all armed.

Well, it was time to get to work – Chiyome would drop down behind a particularly secluded guard, her hand sliding fast to his neck – a simple notion and a snap would follow, as he would drop to the ground.

“The fuck was that noise?” Someone would react immediately, they were on guard. Hm, unfortunate – or maybe fortunate, it depends. Chiyome would enter presence concealment again, as a guard would arrive “S-shit! We have a bod…!”

The alarm is now raised, but his head is not – in fact, it would roll a little bit off to the side, she would choose to use her sword in this particular case.

“Intruders! Intruders!” Chiyome hears, as commotion really begins – she doesn’t really care as she enters presence concealment again, then strikes again – slowly wiping out the enemy, cold and efficient – one, two, three, ten – it doesn’t take more than a minute as it gets significantly quieter – the leftover guards also notice that, with surprising speed, the feeling of terror creeps up faster than expected.

“Screw this!” one of them makes it to the exit, Chiyome raises an eyebrow – but let’s him go for now, there were still a few people she had to slaughter who weren’t running. They were not long for this world.

As the single escape meanwhile would make it to the surface, running as fast away as possible from invisible massacre – he would run into a man in a coat, who would rather rudely stick something into his mouth.

“Sup.” Teach would pull the trigger, as his flintlock would end the man’s life. “Hm, dammit - need to figure out some decent one liners.”

He would then retrace the way the man took, to meet up with Chiyome – she was only slightly bloody – seemingly gotten over excited at some point, somewhere.

“Mmm, well this is like a scene straight out of Elfen Lied.” Teach would whistle, looking around “None of the unfortunate sods saw you, I guess?”

“No, I made sure no one did. Did you get the last one?” Chiyome would ask, wiping her sword on a nearby corpse.

“Sure did, ChiChi. Made enough noise to draw attention to the place too, so we probably should get going – next stop, same old business?” Teach would rub his beard, it’s not that he never partook in some sins of this nature before himself, but some of the things they saw here he would find… distasteful.

“Yes. Sate the old blood lust a little bit.” Chiyome would nod. “For the kids?”

“Well, this town is gonna drown in blood tonight… for the kids, that is.” Teach would whistle “Give them no quarter, least damnation comes.”

* * *

Meanwhile, while Raseir drowned in blood – Katarina would just wait patiently for their mysterious guest to make their move, she was honestly getting quite fed up with it – what were they waiting for? Starlight Festival?

Katarina would honestly begin rolling her eyes, having pretended to be asleep for the past hour or two – she was pretty sure she wasn’t awful at it, so why would they be so slow about this…

After a little bit more time, Katarina would just get out of bed and would go ahead and leap through the window, opening it with magic – meeting the guest head on. Full action style. She would hear a surprised yelp of a young girl, who was not expecting Katarina to just jump through the window like that.

“Hello. Can I help you?” Katarina would ask, slightly confused – as she would see in front of her a girl, approximately her age – maybe a year older or so. Well, guess she wasn’t here to kidnap them, unless they had some really efficient youth force.

“Uuugh… um… ah… I….” the girl was clearly still shocked at the dynamic entrance.

Katarina would give her a reassuring smile, until the mystery girl would relax a little bit.

“S-sorry for creeping at you, Miss… but are you by chance um…” the girl would sort of look her over, a little bit unsure - focusing on her forehead “Ugh, are you by chance Katarina Claes?”

“That would be me, yes.” Katarina would scratch her head a bit, chuckling “Ugh, didn’t expect anyone to recognize me, to be honest.”

“Y-you are?! T-the world renowned doctor?!” the girl would gush “I-it’s the scar! And ugh, the hair – the medical book of yours has your picture on the back of it, so it must be you! A-ah…”

“W-world renowned might be a bit of a stretch…” Katarina would say awkwardly, she never really practiced medicine – even if she learned it in and out due to Asclepius being a pain in her ass.

“P-please! I know it might be pretentious of me, but… just the words you wrote down have saved countless lives, even if it is at times hard to believe you managed to figure all of it out… I actually saw you on the way to…” the girl would sigh, taking a breather to relax “I’m sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself… Erana Ridgeway, a nurse in training. I…”

“Ah…” Katarina would understand now “If I had to guess, you’ve got a case you can’t handle…?”

“I… wish it was just a case, Miss Claes.” Erana would admit, as she would look down “It’s can be pretty hard to live in Raseir – the poor and unfortunate got it rough and there is practically no access to proper medical help, there’s no profit in helping less fortunate, you see… which is why your books are such a blessing.”

Katarina would look at her, taking a breath and letting out a sigh. “I see… Well, the night is still young and I need my sleep, but if you will swing by in the morning – we can go and have a look. Unless there are any cases you think won’t wait overnight?”

“I… I don’t think so. In that case… you’ll help?” Erana would ask, hopeful.

Katarina would tilt her head, curiously looking at the older girl. Did she stutter?

“R-right! Thank you Miss Claes!” She would grab her hand to shake it, before running off.

“What an interesting girl…” Katarian would mumble, as she would go back to her room – she needed to manufacture some tools, as she didn’t bring any with her… and she still needed her sleep.

* * *

In the morning, Katarina would tell Lily and Maria they would go for a detour, before meeting up with Erana. Everyone would introduce each other and they would follow the older girl deep into the city, into the darker corners – where there was less merchandise and more actual living habitat.

It wouldn’t take too long before they would reach a large building, an old abandoned warehouse of sort, or something along those lines – which was refurbished into what Katarina would describe into an impromptu field hospital, following the proper guidelines at that – proper spacing and even attempted privacy shielding, she honestly would feel quite proud for them.

It was still an enormous mess, however. Completely unsuitable by any reasonable standard.

“And this is the place, Miss Claes… ah… please excuse me.” Erana would leave her side to go check by a patient, who Katarina would immediately draw a connection to – a sibling of some sort to her. Most likely a mother. Made sense.

“Knowledge is a wonderful thing, Mistress. As primitive as this is, it’s some great dedication and work to better their community.” Lily would whisper to Katarina, she was honestly just as impressed as Katarina.

“I wonder how many places like this exist, all over the world.” Maria would ponder “Well, I suppose we better get to work?”

“Yes, let’s find a good place to change into proper clothing.” Katarina said, more determined than before to do her best. “Just follow my lead and we’ll help them all!”

* * *

Having changed into something more appropriate, the three of them would start going through every patient – one at a time. Quite a lot of simple cases, but also a few tricky ones – like a particularly nasty case of an allergic reaction to some sort of bug bite. It seems the most cases which they couldn’t handle were tied to allergies or diseases which were harder to track down without knowing where to look, Katarina would note that – maybe she should ask Asclepius to help her write a whole another book on just this particular topic.

Still, as they would go through everyone and dispense treatment, it was not a particularly difficult task – apart of the cases where the people would need a long term treatment, to which Katarina would explain what they need and what would be the best alternative to get, if they couldn’t get their hands onto the needed medicine. In some cases Katarina would mix something up on the spot, a little know how helped a significant lot.

Eventually they would make their way to Erana’s mother, whom Katarina would examine for quite some time, before sighing. “Let me guess, she always had symptoms like that, Erana?”

“Well… yeah, kind of... Is it something… bad?” Erana would ask, nervously.

“Looks like autoimmune disease of some sort… I can’t say for sure.” Katarina said, as she would pick up a small stone and would begin fashioning it into a necklace. “I can’t tell you more without extensively looking into it, especially given the resources available. It’s very likely chronic in some way, however.”

The only darn thing she was sure was, it was not lupus. It’s never lupus.

“I… I see…. So is there any sort of treatment?” Erana would look her mother over with a worry.

“Well, not really. You can negate symptoms, which would take time, but seeing as you seem like a fine young woman yourself…” Katarina would mumble, as she would etch a rune into the handmade necklace – before putting it around the older woman’s neck. “This should help her be nice and healthy.”

“Huh? Is that some kind of… magic?” Erana would ask, it was not a thing one saw commonly in these parts. Magic was predominantly a Sorcier thing, even if it did sometimes manifest in other countries as well.

“Uuuuuugh…” Katarina would suddenly realize she probably shouldn’t have done that in the open. “It’s a family secret!”

“I… I see.” Erana would nod as she would look as her mother would look significantly better just from wearing it for a little while “So it can… cure people?”

“You could say that, yes.” Katarina would nod, letting out a mental sigh – close call.

‘Thank you, Miss Claes.” Erana would wonder why she did not sell those in that case, perhaps there was a reason. Maybe it took a lot out of her, but she wouldn’t really pry into it – she really already pushed her luck to the limit getting her to take a detour here. “Well, I guess that’s…”

“Miss Ridgeway! We have more patients!” a voice from outside called out “Please help right away, there’s tons of em!”

Katarina would look at Erana “Well, a day’s work is never done.”

* * *

Katarina would be surprised at the flood of new patients which would begin coming in, only to slowly realize from their wounds they were most likely slaves at one point, recently released from their bondage. Rope burns, bruises, things like that. It would not take her long to figure out the potential cause to that, she would need to get ChiChi something nice. Still, they now had more work when she bargained for - so she would just start cracking at it.

Erana meanwhile would attend to her mother, who was doing much better – she was good enough to help a little herself with the work, while she would chat with her darling daughter.

“You know, Erana – I always knew you are a resourceful girl, but to think you would actually man age to find and convince Duchess Claes herself to help.” Her mother would note.

“It was just a lucky coincidence, mother.” Erana would sigh, then blink “Wait, Duchess Claes?”

“Well, to be duchess. Come on, don’t you know? She’s a noble girl.” her mother would sigh “People don’t call her that just because she’s a noble person.”

Erana would gasp, covering her mouth. She didn’t once refer to her properly, this was so incredibly rude of her!

“Judging by your reaction, that’s news to you.” there was a weak chuckle “Well, I don’t think she ever mentioned that in any of her works, from what I remember. Still, it’s something to keep in mind.”

* * *

Chiyome and Teach meanwhile, would be taking a well deserved minute to rest – after rooting out what felt like half the whole damned town, their little crusade was finally completed.

“Hm, you know – as much as you suck, I’m glad it’s you and not Columbus.” Chiyome said, after a while.

“Mmm, I doubt Master could even summon him – she’s not out for gold and power enough. Columbus really vibes with more power hungry people.” Teach would answer “But yeah, he would try to get his hand on all of the ugh… goods, to sell.”

“Ritsuka summoned him.” Chiyome said, raising an eyebrow “She isn’t like that either.”

“Ritsuka beat his ass and he tagged along because they had a connection going due to that.” Teach would counter argue “Besides, we had even more vile people back at home – Douman alone was batshit evil.”

“Hm… well, you’ve got a point there.” Chiyome would sigh, trying to purge the rising memories from him. “Let’s hope we never get him here.”

“Just don’t jinx it.” Teach would muse “Well, I should get back to my crew. And you should go catch up with Master, least she will get into some dumb-ass difficult situation, as she does.”

“She will do so, whenever I am there or not. But, good point.” Chiyome would tilt her head “Well, cya around.”

The two would go their own ways for now, feeling surprisingly satisfied with each other for once.

* * *

As the time would hit midnight, Katarina would let out a satisfied sigh – they were finally done. Everyone seemed to be in order, there were a lot of bruises to disinfect, but they got all of them, as far as she was concerned. A job well done.

“Thank you once again for everything, Lady Claes!” Erana would give her a deep bow, making Katarina sweat-drop a bit.

“You don’t have to call me that now, of all times – Erana. Just don’t mind the formalities at this point.” Katarina would wave it off, someone must have told her – which meant she probably should head out, right about now. “Still, I guess now I know there are more things we can write down on paper.”

Erana would smile. “That… sounds great, Miss Claes.”

* * *

They would chat for a little bit, before splitting ways – Katarina and the crew would go and meet up with Chiyome, who looked satisfied as if she ate the proverbial canary.

“ChiChi… so, you are the reason the town apparently is a lot less populated?” Katarina would ask, hugging her, slightly violent at times fiance and sister.

“Ugh… maybe?” Chiyome would giggle nervously.

“Oh, they went absolutely wild all over the shop.” Katarina would hear telepathically from Ishtar, who most likely was observing the entire time “Never took her as a bloodthirsty one, back in the day.”

Katarina would just smile. She had no bloody idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a new chapter. Fever sucks, I feel quite exhausted still - so that's why the story slowed down so much. Sorry if the quality went down also, as well - fever again, sucks.
> 
> The outfit Lily purchased is something between a belly dancer's outfit and Slave Leia outfit, I am not even going to bother trying to draw it - as it would not be very safe for work, or appropriate. 
> 
> So, next chapter we going to visit another kingdom! Look forward to what bull they will do in the Crime Capital of the World, Lousabre!
> 
> <3 to everyone.


	24. Chapter 21 - A Race Through Dark Places (Lousabre)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What could possibly go wrong in a place like this? Well, a few things.

After everything was said and done, the girls would get started figuring out their plans to visit the next place on their tour – Remoria, the grand capital city of Lousabre, supposedly the most crime ridden city in the entire world.

So, you know – a totally safe and reasonable place for a bunch of young girls like them to visit, where nothing wrong could ever happen.

“Maybe we could stay here for a few days more instead?” Maria would bring up casually “It’s not that I mind, but I have already been kidnapped once in my life, Katarina – I don’t want to have another go at it if possible.”

“I would like to avoid the experience as well, if I am perfectly honest.” Lily said, lifting a hand up, her other hand touching her stomach. ‘Sounds unpleasant and dangerous and brings back unpleasant memories.”

“You two are over-dramatizing!” Katarina would go, crossing her hands “Pleeeease? It’s really important.”

“But why, Katarina? There are other places we could go to first.” Chiyome would look at Katarina a bit dubiously, playing it up a bit - she knew why, of course “Is there something you need to tell us?”

“I…” Katarina would consider it and then sigh, as everyone would be staring at her. “I suppose, yes. Sit down everyone, there is something I need to tell you.”

* * *

“So, this is the kind of information you say well in advance, Katarina.” Maria would have her arms crossed, she wasn’t that upset or anything, but still – Katarina at times was a frustrating person to work with due to all the secrets.

“I expected something like that.” Lily would say, letting out a sigh. “But you said so yourself, Ruler told you there is nothing we can do for them. Why bother going there and potentially making a bigger mess?”

“Because I believe she is wrong.” Katarina said, pouting. “Nay, I am positive she is wrong!”

“She is you.” Chiyome would remind Katarina.

“And how many times have I been wrong in my life, ChiChi?” Katarina would ask, before quickly realizing everyone was about to let a waterfall loose “It was not an invitation to recite the whole list!”

The girls would look between each other, before starting anyway.

“That time you believed lightning can’t hit the same place twice which almost got you killed?” Lily would ask, spitballing the first shot “Or when you claimed rice could cook itself inside a bird and kill them?”

“You have never gotten anyone’s birthday correctly when asked spontaneously, even your own.” Maria would think “Oh, that time when you said the cookie dough mix was fine to eat without cooking and you got violently sick after trying some?”

“Remember when you insisted that you figured out a detergent which could get blood out of dresses and it just straight up disintegrated my favourite dress?” Chiyome would ask, trying to remember something outstanding herself “And then you insisted you fixed that, several times - each time resulting in progressively more hilarious destruction of my wardrobe?” 

“It wasn’t an invitation to recite the whole list!” Katarina repeated herself as she would puff her cheeks, pouting heavily. 

“Katarina, if we recited the whole list we would be here for days.” Chiyome would come closer putting a hand on her shoulder “This is just a few examples, but I get what you’re saying. I don’t like your idea, but I suppose it might not be… awful.”

“I suppose I don’t mind going as much as I did before, but in the future please bring up things like that in advance Katarina.” Maria would sigh, looking at Lily.

“Same, would be greatly appreciated!” Lily would chime in. “Wait… would that detergent have anything to do with that one time all of our laundry got vaporized?”

‘No. Comments.” Katarina would look away.

“You know there were easier ways of parting me with my pantyhose, right, mistress?” Lily would ask, with a deadpan tone “You could just mmm… ask?”

“NO. COMMENTS.” Katarina would insist, turning away - as everyone else would burst out laughing. Jerks.

* * *

Despite the fact their cover was partially blown, there were some things Katarina wanted to take care of first before they would set out to Remoria – as such Katarina would call on Blackbeard to make some arrangements to provide all sorts of materials and resources to Erana and her mother, so they could improve their makeshift hospital… up to a reasonable standard. It was a drop in a bucket to what Katarina could do for the people, but at the end of the day - this felt nice enough and she actually knew the people she was helping.

Having done that, they would all board Ishtarin express and would make the journey – this time Ishtar would transport Katarina and Chiyome first, leaving Maria and Lily with Blackbeard who was still around – before coming back for them. Seeing as they were going to a pretty dangerous place, they didn’t want to take any chances with bodyguard duty.

Having all made the journey, they would gather up their courage and would march on to the capital of Lousabre, just like the last time they didn’t fly right up to the capital for safety sake, in fact - this time the trek was even longer. It took them through some beautiful scenery, however - if you didn’t mind the periodic carriage wreck here and there.

Still, eventually they would approach Remoria – it was something to see. The city itself was built around an enormous rock formation made out of titanic stone monoliths, forming a cliff of sort – at the top of the said cliff the castle was located, overlooking the city – nay, shadowing it, It really was not that hard to see why the spot was picked – it would be extremely defensible in a case of war, at least from an outside enemy…

If the enemy came from the inside however… well, in that case it was a little different, but the castle would still be able to stand tall for some time.

“I believe the main tower of the castle is the highest point in the entire world.” Maria would mention “Higher than even the Xiarmah mountain range.”

“Really?” Lily would ask “Hm… well, I suppose it does look like it could be the case, but how would you know that?”

“I looked into it when we were having the issues with the water processing plant.” Maria would explain “After all, this castle is the most complicated and over-engineered thing in the entire world. I believe nothing we worked on comes close and here’s another fact it was built before Sorcier was established.”

“Wait, what? How the hell did they manage that?” Katarina would go, this sounded… impressive, especially for the time frame in question.

“If I had to guess, unkind hours and grueling conditions.” Lily would guess “And lots of magic. Judging by how large it looks from this far away, there is no way it wouldn’t collapse without some grand magic at play.”

“Hey, maybe it’s all runes!” Katarina would joke, as everyone would think for a second.

“That… doesn’t sound like the most unreasonable explanation.” Chiyome would note “I never took you for a time traveler, but… never know with you, Katarina.”

“I was just joking, please don’t get mad at me in advance for something I don’t think I did.” Katarina would scratch her head, she would cross fingers just in case.

“Maybe we should have flown closer to the city…” Lily would complain “It’s still like a few hours walking to the city, at this pace…”

“Don’t tell me you’re exhausted already?” Katarina would look at Lily, who looked pretty spent. ‘Right. Well, since ChiChi is already hauling all of our things, I guess get on.”

Katarina would provide the piggy back ride for Lily, she was tiny enough where Katarina could haul her around mostly without any issues.

Maria would chuckle slightly, but would not make any remarks – not that she didn’t have any, but they gave Katarina a hard enough time today already.

* * *

They would make the rest of the way to Remoria on foot easy enough, Ishtar would fire a couple of warning shots from the air to scare off what she thought might be a potential ambush or two, but they wouldn’t encounter any violent troubles… themselves, at least – there were still plenty of broken down carriages and other signs of pillaging.

Going into the town proper, it was not all bad – not minding the slightly dirty streets, it was actually quite nice to just have a stroll, even if there was not that much to really observe. If Rasier was a city of shops, this was a city of residential housing – with shops being few and far between.

“The castle really does loom over the entire town, being so big… and tall.” Lily would note, looking up “But yeah, I must say we do kind of stand out among everyone else here.”

The sad fact is the city itself didn’t even look bad at all, most people they saw seemed to be relatively well off - but the stares they were getting, the general atmosphere just screamed “we don’t like visitors”.

“We are soooo getting kidnapped.” Maria would hum, quietly.

“We are not getting kidnapped.” Katarina would try to calm her blonde friend. “We just need to find a safe and respectable place to spend the night.”

* * *

Easier said than done. Especially given what despite everything, the girls at this point were accustomed to a pretty high level of luxury - it was no easy task to find a respectable looking place which was rich enough for them, where they would feel safe enough. Of course it was mostly a personal problem, but - they still had preferences.

In the end, as they would explore what felt like more than half the town in their fruitless search – the solution to their problem would provide itself in the form of a gallant knight in black armor, who would introduce himself as D’aithard.

In a way, he looked like Gramps would if he decided to look like a more classical knight.

The good sire would approach Katarina and her posse cautiously, but with a clear intent – stating himself as captain of royal guard and stating his name. He would then say their presence is requested at Castle Remoria.

Katarina would scratch her head, as D’aithard would proceed to silently wait for their answer. It was confusing to her how they managed to figure out they were there so fast and also she was slightly concerned for the reason of said summon. She just hoped this would not start the revolution early.

“Well, alright!” She would give a sheepish smile, as the good knight would nod and escort them to the castle grounds.

* * *

It was hell of a walk. Not only was the rock formation itself big enough to classify as a mountain, would it be shaped in any other way – it was also well maintained in a way which would make a direct assault difficult, so even with carriage taking them part way there it was almost night by the time they would arrive. Lily asking “Are we there yet?” all the time didn’t help any at all, either.

“It is even more impressive up close.” Maria would say, as they would find themselves just in front of the grand entrance – looking up they couldn’t even see the end of the main tower, at such height did it end.

“It’s sure is… something.” Chiyome would note, wondering just what sort of maniac built this… and what exactly he was making up for.

“The gates are open, Honored Guests. Let us proceed.” D’aithard would pronounce, once the gates would open themselves, Katarina would note he had to approach the castle before they did so. Some sort of magic, perhaps? It’s not like he made a statement that they were there and Katarina couldn’t see anyone overlooking the gates.

Going forward, Katarina would look around along with everyone else – it was a somewhat dark place, lit with a stylistic choice for mood lighting. It screamed “vampires” to Katarina for some reason, but then again the whole town had a Transilvania vibe to it in a way.

“Dear Honored Knight, our guests have another guest alongside them.” Katarina would hear a… soft feminine voice ring through the halls, she would look around – it seems no one heard it, bar the knight escorting them. “He looks like a fellow knight, a bodyguard of sorts, perhaps.”

Whatever that voice was talking, they couldn’t refer to anyone else but Gramps – but his presence concealment rating was so high! How in the world?!

Katarina would get slightly nervous, but wouldn’t say anything for now – just letting D’aithard lead them through the halls, until they would reach an audience hall – the good knight would motion them to stop and would then stand on guard, separating all of them and a platform on which their host was probably going to appear soon. His gaze was looking seemingly nowhere, but Katarina could bet anything this was where Gramps was currently looking back intently.

They wouldn’t have to wait for long, as an older man wearing a regal outfit and a crown would appear. He would appear to be in his twilight years, Katarina seldom saw a man quite as old looking.

“Ah, you answered my call here. Thank you.” the old king would speak up, fixing up his crown “Allow me to introduce myself, Faru the Third, King of Lousabre by Birthright and Master of this castle by the Right of Conquest. And you are all, if I’m not mistaken – by name, Katarina Claes, Chiyome Claes, Maria Campbell and Leonardo Da Vinci. Am I correct?”

Everyone would nod, as they would also give a courteous bow to the king of another nation, Lily would tense up a little bit however – there was no one who should know her true name, even if she looked like her older self – she never really went by anything else but “Lily”, due to… well, mostly being ashamed of herself – but there were other reasons, like her older self already using the full name.

“While I do not know why you have graced our city with your presence, allow me to welcome all of you. I suppose, it was slightly overboard of me to call you here with such a summon – but I wanted to confirm what rumors I overheard about a traveling group appearing in the city.” Faru would go on, slowly observing all of them – also giving a periodic glance to where D’aithard was looking.

“Is there something you wanted from us, Your Majesty?” Katarina would prefer to not dabble about, it was perhaps slightly rude – but he was not their king, they did however answer to his summon. He extended courtesy of visit, they extended courtesy of showing up – however she didn’t have to take things slow and regal.

“… yes, straight to the point – ah, to be young again. There is, Duchess Claes of Sorcier. Nothing dangerous, mind – I swear on my word as a king no harm will befall you whilst you are my guests. But I did want something indeed. However, it is something I would prefer discussing in private, if you would allow that.” Faru would look at Katarina, who would think – before giving a nod.

Chiyome would let out a sigh, of course she would agree. The dumb-ass. Still, they would all vacate the room for now, Gramps would follow Chiyome alongside and soon Katarina was the only one in the room. D’aithard would follow them out closely after.

“She is the only one in the room, Your Majesty.” That voice spoke up again, Katarina would blink and cross her hands.

“So much for being alone, there’s someone literally talking out loud.” Katarina said, complaining. His majesty Faru would look at her in amazement, tilting his head.

“Oh-ho… have you heard that, Remoria – it seems our guest can hear you.”

Katarina would blink, Remoria was the name of the capital and also the castle, in which they were right now… wait…

“Huh? The castle can talk?!” Katarina would ask, as there was a giggling sound from the mysterious voice.

“Oh, she seems to understand me indeed, Your Majesty. How curious, how curious. That would explain the change of heart rate when I warned the Honored Knight.”

“Well, as amusing as a discovery that is, Lady Claes of Sorcier, this is not why I summoned you thee.” Faru would sigh, thinking “However, it would make everything quite simple, if you chose to agree.”

“Choose to agree… to what?” Katarina would ask, blinking.

“I will be frank - I am getting old.” Faru would state “I only have a single heir to my name, a girl – Agnes. A sweet treasure, my greatest achievement in life – despite her sickly nature. Just the fact she exists is a miracle in it’s own, all the problems aside.”

Katarina would try to process where this discussion was going, she had a fairly solid idea, but she did not anticipate it.

“You see, My royal lineage is cursed. For as long as thee line rule over this nation, pain and suffering awaits and misfortune cometh for you all.” Faru explained “Or something along those lines, the blasted curse is rather old you see – I don’t quite know how it went on exactly, nobody does for generations now. Still, I feel it has finally begun winning over, you see – so…”

“Your Majesty, you are not proposing what I think you are proposing, right?” Katarina would just make sure, since it sounded very specific…

“No, I am. You see, I know there is something wrong about you Lady Claes. Don’t hold it against the old man, but… children aren’t normally like… you. You achieved so much in so little time, there is something special and very, very wrong about you. So, I would like to offer to pass you down the power, so my people could have a chance at feeling pride in their nation again.” Faru would stroke his beard “My life is approaching its end and Agnes already refused to continue on this farce. I can’t blame her, I should have called an end to it myself decades ago.”

“That seems like an extreme measure…” Katarina said, just kind of surprised – Ruler mentioned nothing alike to that. “Is there no way to simply… break the curse?”

“That would be to give up power or for my lineage to die off. The former is what I am trying to do right now.” Faru would grin “Honestly, would have done a long time ago – but I still have my pride, I do not wish to hand off the power to someone who will squander it. It is a dream to see our nation be strong again, so the people can look up into the sky with pride again – instead of… where we ended up being.”

Katarina would think, before letting out a sigh.

“I… I’m afraid being an actual Queen is not something for me, but… I could offer a… compromise.” Katarina would answer, she had her life busy enough without being a queen of an entire nation, thank you very much.

“That is regrettable. But if it is your answer. What is the compromise, then?” Faru would not dwindle on what could have been too long, it was a large thing to ask after all.

“What if I would provide a worthy candidate for a king or queen?” Katarina asked “Let’s just say… I have the means to “find” someone who could lead your nation to prosperity, while not being me.”

His majesty would think for a little while, before making a motion.

“She doesn’t appear to speak lies, your Majesty.” Remoria would answer, after which she would add “If you wish to know my opinion, it might work as a second option and it certainly beats any other option we explored already.”

“Thank you, Remoria.” His Majesty would reply, before looking at Katarina “Very well, I would like to see whom you would have in mind. Meanwhile, please – make yourself at home at the castle. Remoria is a gracious hostess and she will cater to any of your needs.”

“Ah, one more thing Your Majesty.” Katarina spoke up, as she felt the discussion was approaching its end “You mentioned you have a daughter who is sickly, is everything well right now? I am a doctor of some renown, after all – if there is anything bothering her.”

She wanted to know if she was sick yet, as Ruler mentioned she would be not long before the revolution – to see what kind of time frame she had.

“Of course, I would love to have you look her over. However she doesn’t take guests without the presence of Honorable Knight, so you would have to ask him to spare some time, but you have my blessing to do so.” The older ruler’s expression would soften up a little bit.

Katarina would nod before leaving the king alone with his castle.

“Hm, I wonder if I should have done something like this many years ago, Remoria.”

“Perhaps, Your Majesty – but you tried your best to stop the rot which started long ago. Let us hope it is not too late to do so.”

“Let us hope.”

* * *

Having to deal with a talking, living castle turned out to be a real doozy – Katarina wanted to tell everything to everyone, but they always had an extra listener with them… then again, she did offer something she planned on fulfilling, so first order of business was to see to Agnes, Katarina would talk with D’aithard about sparing some time to visit the princess, which was the first thing she did – as everyone else would resume following her.

Agnes turned out to be a sweet girl, stubborn like an oaf however – struggling against the examination every step of the way and giggling to any attempted touch. Still, Katarina would summarize some things about her, like her severely weakened immune system and the fact there was some sort of curse draining her life force.

Thankfully, the talking castle proved to be quite useful in this case – as Katarina had someone to ask literally all of the questions which popped in her head, D’aithard did however seem surprised the first time she would address Remoria – it was clearly not something done lightly by others.

“She is affected by the curse directly? Oh, those are grave news.” Remoria would state, after hearing Katarina out “His Majesty suspected as such, but we never managed to gather solid evidence. There is only so much I can perform of magic myself. Is there anything you can do about it?”

“A mixture of powerful light and black magical reagents should remove it, something like a unicorn horn and a cursed beast gallstone. If your land is cursed, there should be at least a couple of animals hexed enough to possess those.” Katarina would mention. “But yeah, thankfully it's nothing that can’t be cured, so she will be just fine.”

“I will relay the good and the bad news, then. I suspect a hunt will be held for these reagents you speak of.” Remoria would not waste any time. “Now, as young Agnes needs her rest – please allow us to guide you to your living quarters.”

“Okay. Sounds reasonable to me.” Katarina would nod, letting out a sigh. She was exhausted – dealing with hyperactive, but very frail children was really difficult, Lily was an example of something like that herself… and well, it was pretty late by this point and they walked a lot today.

* * *

Having gotten a room, Katarina finally decided to fill in everyone else – including about Remoria. Lily would tilt her head “So that low static like noise was something after all, some sort of speech which must be translated into language… Do you have some sort of translator on your person, Mistress? It’s not the first time you just understand a language you aren’t supposed to know.”

“Ugh… not what I know off?” Katarina wondered where she could have picked up something like that. She would think long and hard, looking out the window. It was quite a scenic view, not minding a couple of crows seemingly staring right at the window. She wondered if Remoria could control the animals around the grounds and she was using them as means of observation.

“Well, I never expected you to be offered a throne, Katarina.” Maria would then change the subject “Also I feel like it would have been cool if you accepted.”

“It would have been incredibly reckless to do so, Maria.” Chiyome would look at her sternly. “Just think about the fit Geordo would throw.”

“As I said, _cool._ Hello? Am I the only one who thinks that?” Maria would pout – she would totally go for something like that.

“Still, finding a suitable person for the job will be… difficult.” Chiyome would sigh “At least we found nice bedding for our stay here, doubt we would get kidnapped here.”

“Yeah, at least that is nice.” Maria would confirm.

“Ugh, Mistress will find a way to get us into trouble anyway.” Lily would speak up, as she was lazing about in bed already.

“Will not! Mind your language, Lily” Katarina would take exception to that statement, for once.

“I bet you anything you will find trouble, mistress.” Lily would lift her head looking at Katarina.

Katarina would just pout. “Pfff. Deal!”

Chiyome and Maria would just sigh, why did she choose to fight _losing battles was beyond them._

* * *

The night would embrace them all with relative ease, there was something just convenient about a living castle which as it turned out - could shuffle itself around some, so the bedding accommodations would turn out exactly to everyone’s preferences. Katarina would be sleeping like a baby, either way.

Chiyome however wasn’t sleeping so well - pondering about the discussions they had the last couple of days, she had her own doubts, after all. 

It all came down to that discussion she had with Ruler, Katarina was right - she could very well be wrong about many things, even heroic spirits had a tendency to be unreliable narrators at times, they were after all - human.

As such, Chiyome would get out of bed and would check if everyone else was sleeping, before shaking Lily awake gently. 

The young genius would understandably, wake up with a grimace staring at Chiyome like she just woke her in the middle of the night or something.

“What’s the matter?” Lily would ask, letting out a big yawn - she would usually complain some, but she had enough faith in Chiyome where she figured she didn’t wake her up to be a jerk.

“I wanted to ask, what are you planning to shake down from Katarina, once she inevitably loses that silly bet?” Chiyome would ask.

Lily would give her the most unamused look, okay - apparently she was just being a jerk.

“The same as always, probably? Some of that fancy expensive chocolate, maybe a new dress if I can sneak that in… why?” Lily would really not see the reason for Chiyome to be asking that, Katarina did stupid bets like that all the time and Lily never really asked for anything else - she knew her boundaries.

“And nothing else? No other ideas?” Chiyome would ask, just looking at Lily overseeing if there was any reaction. 

“Nooooo…? I can afford most other things…” Lily would say, still somewhat confused. To be honest, she probably could afford the chocolate in question herself, but things like that tasted better when they were gifted, not bought.

Chiyome would give a slight smile, just thinking what to do - it took a couple of seconds to come to a conclusion.

“Would you mind doing me a favour, if I got you that chocolate… and a dress?” Chiyome would ask, trying to sound neutral, but her heartbeat would go up as she made her decision.

“Ugh…” Lily would look at Chiyome, she still seldom understood the girl “Sure, whatever - what do you want me to ask her?”

Chiyome would smile and would explain her request to Lily, not mentioning it in too many details, but making it plain what she wanted her to do.

Lily would blink, tilting her head as her cheeks would turn crimson.

“Is… is that some sort of fetish for you?” Lily would ask, in utter confusion. “Also, she would never agree to something like that, you do know that, right?”

“Just… please do try it, Lily. It’s important, for reasons.” Chiyome would insist, looking away sporting a blush herself.

“Well… sure, I can try… it’s still one hell of a weird request, but sure.” Lily didn’t know what took over ChiChi to make a request like that, but well - it technically was Lily’s job… if Katarina would ever look at her that way. “I want two boxes of candy however.”

“Two? What a rip off.” Chiyome would keep her outrage down, everyone else was still sleeping.

“I want some chocolate too, consider it a bribe to keep quiet, yes?” Maria would speak up, not bothering to get up from her bed. 

Chiyome would throw her a look, before looking over to Katarina - the only person who was still sleeping none the wiser. 

“You two are a nightmare at times, did I ever tell you that?” Chiyome would cross her hands. Fine, they would get their chocolate - even if it was a shameless robbery.

* * *

Eventually, the morning would arrive and Remoria would rouse them up with a gentle shake of their beddings, they would find all they would need for their morning routine already prepared for them in advance - so it was relatively easy to get going.

Katarina would get ready first, being the one who actually got a full night’s proper rest - she would get dressed and freshened, before asking Remoria for a proper tour of the castle for them - it was an enormous place after all and she wanted to find an appropriate place for the summoning, which Katarina did explain to Remoria in passing details.

“The tour is of little difficulty for me to arrange, however if you are planning on using unknown to me magic - the only place that would be allowed is at the very top of the main astronomy tower. It’s a long climb, so pack everything you need in advance.” Remoria would note, she wasn’t really strong in understanding alien to her magic - but she had ample means of protection in case they did something stupid… and in case of a big explosion - the tower was so far away from the main castle, it would be negligible.

“Well, in that case tour - then work!” Katarina would relay everything to others, before they would head out for their tour. The castle itself was quite fascinating, Remoria would explain a little bit about inner workings of it, too - as she was the castle and had control over the building materials, the design function was her job - explaining how all of this nonsense held together.

She was practically just a living being, growing in size as she saw fit - at least within the needs of those who ruled over her. Eventually their tour would get them to the astrology tower, which was a several hour long climb - Remoria mentioned it was built because there is rarely a day when the grey clouds did not cover the sky in these parts, but a queen back many centuries ago did enjoy stargazing - as such, this was the solution, as blunt as it was.

It was surprisingly not as boring a climb as Katarina feared it would be, there were a lot of paintings and little rest spots here and there - some thought definitely went into this, however Katarina did end up having to haul Lily for a couple portions of their ascend. 

Whenever they reached the top, it felt quite satisfying - at least to Katarina.

“Are we… finally… done… climbing?” Maria would ask sitting down, as she would look around – they were in a large study-like room located in the tower’s spire - there was a lot of stargazing equipment here, all rather antique looking. 

“Please bury me… somewhere pretty.” Lily would say dramatically, as she would plop herself near Maria.

“We really should start working you out.” Chiyome would look at Lily, letting out a sigh “I mean, this was a pretty long climb, but you are just so out of shape. Well, rest up and we’ll help you etch the summoning circle.”

Katarina would nod to their conversation, she herself couldn’t etch a summoning circle to save her life, without a reference – but Lily could. So, their work would begin as soon as she could begin.

* * *

**“** **_Thou seven heavens, clad with the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of constraint, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!”_ **

The circle was etched, the summoning would proceed as planned.

Katarina would focus all of herself to try and call out for someone royal, someone who would be able to lead Lousabre to a better place - despite the grim outlook. She was hoping herself for the King of Knights, as she was always a little bit of a Saber fan, but sadly she never really managed to get a catalyst or anyone who could serve as a catalyst for her. As the light would flash well above the kingdom, she would try and see whom she summoned.

Only to have a gilded weapon sent flying towards her face, right between the eyes, it would not reach her obviously - Chiyome knocked it out of the air with ease, but it was still a big shock for Katarina.

“H-huh?!” Katarina would look again, to see whom she summoned. Oh. Oh no.

“Hm, for someone like you to summon me, I see your luck has run out, Mongrel!” She sure summoned a king, the problem – she summoned probably the worst king she could summon! A bloody tyrant!

“W-wait, stop that! Wah!” Katarina would start dodging, as yellow ripples would start spewing weapons trying to skewer her, Chiyome would deflect a whole bunch, Remoria would also join in - knocking out numerous projectiles by tossing bricks at them at high speed.

“Stop doing what, mongrel? I am just clearing up the room from vermin unworthy of my time.” The golden king, Gilgamesh would raise an eyebrow, it was not that he didn’t like being summoned – but he had a feeling he was summoned for some absolutely ridiculous and stupid reason, which did not improve his attitude any.

“Stop trying to kill me! I summoned you, you can’t just kill your own master! That’s against the rules!” Katarina would yell as she would be hastily etching runes of protection around everyone, especially Maria and Lily who would just take cover - seeing as the barrage of weaponry was aimed mostly at Katarina.

“Fool! I am the rules!” Gilgamesh would launch a bigger volley, as he stood there irritated, he wasn’t being serious about this whole situation of course, that much Katarina knew - if the servant in front of her wanted her dead, she would be dead. “But this castle seems to be moving on it’s own, I like that. I think I will take it.”

“That’s literally the reason I summoned you, you dumbassss! Quit! Firing! At! Me!” Katarina would hide behind Chiyome, who was standing strong - she of course had no chance against King of Heroes in a one on one fight, but she knew him enough to know they weren’t in any real danger… unless he would decide to bust out Ea for whatever reason. 

“Hm. You are not already dead, which is a miracle considering how inept you appear to be.” Goldie would say, tapping a finger on his hip, his armor making a particular clanking notion. “That still doesn’t make you worth anything as a master, however.”

“Stop being a stubborn oaf for once in your life.” Chiyome would say, to her great infuriating – having lived at Chaldea, she learned there was no point sucking up to Gil, the only thing it would do is piss him off even more - standing your own ground was equally annoying, but at least it worked.

Goldie would just fire a volley in the direction of the annoying mongrel, before having to step aside to dodge an arrow aimed at his head, it came from outside the tower - judging by the clouds below they were rather high up. Could that mean...

“Oh, so you command that useless goddess as well? Do you honestly expect me to take you seriously if you are commanding that fool?” Goldie would now focus his full attention trying to shoot Ishtar down from the sky, the two… never really saw eye to eye.

Katarina who would finally be able to catch a breath, would just observe as the two would be trying very actively to kill each other – it seems Ishtar was not a fan of Gilgamesh herself.

“Is this the worthy substitute you planned on calling?” Remoria would ask, after observing the idiot Katarina summoned.

“Well… he is one of history’s greatest kings.”

“He’s clearly insane.”

“A little bit…?”

* * *

In the end, the girls would leave those two idiots to ditch it out between the two of them in their aerial battle - neither Gilgamesh nor Ishtar would listen to Katarina’s commands, but supposedly if both of them would let out the steam - they would be good to go, at least as far as Chiyome explained to her.

“Oh, by the way Mistress - you totally lost that bet.” Lily would remind Katarina, much to Kat’s displeasure. 

“Look, it’s not my fault if it's the servant who attacked me! Like, how likely was that?! C’mon now! Maria? ChiChi? Back me up here?” Katarina would look at the two, they were shaking their heads. Jerks. “Jeeeeez. Fine.”

Katarina thought it was totally unfair, but whatever - Lily never was one for ridiculous requests, not minding her periodic spurs of perversion. Probably would have to get her some of that chocolate she liked, or something.

“Well, seeing as these two idiots will probably go on for a while.” Chiyome would think “Shall we take some time to explore the town? It wasn’t the most welcoming place I saw, but we mostly spend our time here so far in the castle.”

“Hm… yeah, let’s do that.” Maria would nod, lamenting simpler times “All of the walking is a murder, but I am now curious about the local customs - especially if this will inevitably fall onto our workdesks soon enough.”

They would spend a few days exploring the town itself, they would run into some issues - nothing Katarina and Chiyome couldn’t handle. Petty theft was commonplace and it didn’t require the usual over the top violent response they were famous for, after all. Overall, at least in the capital - the girls felt the reputation of crime was somewhat exaggerated, but Katarina theorised that was partially due to the curse in the works. 

After all, it didn’t take much to ruin a life of your everyday commoner, as little as a couple weeks of bad weather would do the job and judging by the constant grey skies and moody atmosphere, good weather was a rarity in a way. Katarina wondered if it was just the place, or actual curse influencing the weather - could be both. Still, Lousabre was still considered a big nation for a reason - crime was high, yes - but the kingdom was functional to a point.

It’s just, there was obviously something under all of it, but Etran was very much the same, so Katarina hoped maybe if King of Heroes would see reason he could help her turn the place around. He would be one of the few people who probably could, just by force of personality alone. Immense wealth and power would help, of course.

Katarina would ponder on all of these things as she was resting, her magical energy was a little bit low - as two of her servants were still fighting, almost for three days non stop now. Usually things like that didn’t drain her enough, but since they also walked about - Katarina did find herself slightly exhausted.

“Mistress?” Lily would visit Katarina, sitting down on her bed. “Still resting, huh?”

“Yeah, I must say this is surprisingly exhausting.” Katarina would note “Did you want something?”

“I wanted to cache in on that thing I won.” Lily would admit.

“Ah. So what will it be? Chocolate?” Katarina would look at Lily.

“Well… I had something else in mind.” Lily would admit “What I want is…”

* * *

Well, _**as weird as that was**_ , at least the mana issues were dealt with for a little while. Which was good timing, as those two idiots have finally finished trying to kill each other at some point and instead got blasted in another way, involving lots of alcohol - so Katarina would have to grab Chiyome and reign them two in at last.

Funny enough, Gilgamesh was much more approachable when he was just done venting his frustration and drunk to boot, he did however start laughing out loud like a mad man once Katarina explained why she summoned him.

Once he was done laughing, he would look at her “Wait, are you serious?”

He would then have another bout, topping it off with a classical “The king is in great abdominal pain.”

Still, after he was done laughing his sides off - he would inquire more about Lousabre, listening with surprising patience to her less than perfect summary which she gathered so far. 

“So a kingdom driven into the ground by a stubborn king who was defiant in the face of an old curse? Foolish, but I can admire the dedication.” Gilgamesh would note “It is a king’s duty to persevere and people’s duty to follow - it is also admirable you don’t look at them with pity, the miserable feeling that it can be.”

Katarina would tilt her head, waiting for him to make his point.

“Very well, I will take on this challenge - it will provide a moment’s distraction if nothing else, however I require one thing in return.” King of Heroes spoke up “You are an idiot who summons many servants, not unlike one of my subjects. I want you to summon a specific one to help me pass the monotony of this task.”

Katarina would think about it for a second, before nodding. “I assume you have a catalyst?”

She figured he considered Fijimaru one of his subjects, she heard about events which transpired in Babylonia. It sounded scary, yet epic.

“What kind of foolish question is that, mongrel? Of course I have a catalyst - I have everything worth a damn.” Goldie would look at her with irritation. 

“In that case… _that’s a deal!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!  
> This chapter took quite a long while to finish, it's still a little bit of a patchwork - but it is what it is. I like it, overall - from the concept to most of the execution.
> 
> A few notes:  
> New Minor Servant Summoned: Gilgamesh (Archer)  
> New Minor Character of Note: Remoria
> 
> Also, I am pleased to announce what ugh, my case of Covid seems to be on the way out with relative easy, so hopefully I will begin writing more & including more illustrations with my work, as I am now a proud owner of Kamvas 22. Life goals! Huzzah!
> 
> Still, as always - thanks for reading my garbage, love you all <3  
> Have a good day <3


	25. Interludes and Examinations (Vol. 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes things appear like a good idea. Quite often, the good idea is not so good after all. This chapter might be pushing an R rating, not sure.

**~ Asclepius and Blackbeard ~**

“And that’s what’s up doc.” Teach would finish filling in Asclepius on the little adventure in Raseir, including Katarina’s passing request to help soup up the little makeshift hospital there. “So, what’s the verdict?”

Asclepius would put down the stack of papers he was working on and would think everything over.

“I see.” The good doctor would hum, it was perhaps something he should have predicted himself, rather than being told – but it made sense. As the general care was getting good enough in underdeveloped countries with little access to light magic, more insidious diseases would come to exposure. “So she said it’s some sort of autoimmune disease… what did Miss Campbell say on the topic?”

“Ugh, I haven’t quite caught it, but I don’t think she had a definitive answer either… why?” Teach would try to recall if Katarina mentioned anything about it.

“A light mage should be able to at least mitigate diseases like that relatively easily, at least if it was just autoimmune disease. I suspect the case in question is destructive buildup of magical energy.” Asclepius would mention, as he would stand up “Well, are you ready to take me there?”

“Heh, any day of the week, doc. Going right now?” Teach did expect something like that and had his ship on standby, just in case – they would just need to finish up loading some building materials first.

“I need to gather some things first, I assume you are already making arrangements on your end?” Asclepius would look at Teach, before giving a nod “Good. Well, let’s get to work.”

“Hai hai, no rest for the wicked. Oi, doc – do answer me this…” Teach would scratch his nose “Is it me or are you actually smiling for once in your life?”

“Hm? It’s only natural for a teacher to be happy when his student makes him proud.” Asclepius said, raising an eyebrow “You are grinning ear to ear yourself.”

“Heh… that’s right.” Teach would then whistle as the two of them would begin preparation for their work “That’s right.”

**~ Geordo and Asako ~**

“This one was even more annoying than the last.” Asako would mention, as she and her charge would finally be left alone, they just finished yet another round of royal duties – Geordo was the third prince after all and with the kingdom being as prosperous as it was, there was no shortage of work, especially for someone of his particular skill set – despite his young age.

“You telling me that? I was the one who had to deal with him.” Geordo would raise an eyebrow, still – it was nice to have someone to complain to, he would do his royal duty – flawlessly at that, but he didn’t have to like it. Talking with people who somehow managed to act pompous in the face of a prince and potential future king was… gruelingly exhausting.

“I still don’t understand why you bother.” Asako would look the stoic looking prince over. “The crown is as good as yours, you just need to ask for it – to me it seems like you just over-complicating everything with these arrangements and deals.”

“While what you say is true, Asako.” Geordo would look at her, giving his ever charming smile “I still would like to be a competent king on my own merit, instead of being a king just because I happen to still be engaged to Katarina.”

“Hm… I can understand that.” she would nod, every single one of Hundred Personas would always strive to be unique in their own way, bar one – but she was unique in her own way anyway. “Still, it’s a very loose engagement all things considered.”

“Loose or not, it exists and nobody can deny me that! Not even ChiChi and oh she tried.” Geordo would chuckle “The one advantage I still have over everyone else, even if it’s just a formality at this point.”

Asako would look at him, rolling her eyes.

“Oh shush, out of all the people you are the last one who can judge all of our plans for the future.” Geordo would smirk “Just trust me, I believe it’s all worth it in the end.”

“Being a competent king or being a fourth wheel in a romance circle?” Asako would ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Both?” Geordo would counter raise an eyebrow “Also it’s not a circle yet, maybe an icosahedron – but not a circle.”

“You aren’t even going to question the forth placement?” Asako would stiffen a chuckle.

“Not really, no.” Geordo would stretch “If Katarina is the first wheel, Chiyome is second, then comes Lily, then me, then Maria with Mary close behind, then everyone else.”

“Thinking mighty high about yourself, Your Majesty.” Asako would consider everything she knew from the time she was summoned, it did sort of make sense.

“Well, why wouldn’t I?” The young prince would smile “But ugh, don’t mention to Mary I put her so far down the list, I would much rather not get murdered before my twilight years.”

“So it’s not just me, she’s actually kind of creepy sometimes?”

“… yes.”

**~ Keith and Mary ~**

Mary would let out a loud sneeze, prompting Keith to turn around to face her.

“Are you feeling sickly?” He would ask, coming closer and checking if she had a fever by chance.

“No, I don’t think so…” Mary would sigh “It started to happen more often as of late, just sneezing out of the blue. Seems odd, if you ask me – I hope it’s not an allergy of some sort.”

“Well, you do spend quite a lot of time around flowers, but if it is an allergy – at least there’s medicine against that.” Keith would sigh “Still, if you are not feeling your best…”

“Oh no, I’m fine – thank you, Keith.” Mary would smile, the two of them were heading to the capital to look for some things. “Besides, even if it’s a cold, it won’t stop me.”

Keith would just shake his head gently, as they would head out.

“Are you sure about going on foot? We still could get a carriage.” Keith would ask, looking at Mary.

“I’d much rather walk, it’s nice to just take your time sometimes, besides the company is nice enough.” Mary smiled “As long as you can carry everything we need?”

“Should be easy enough, if not we can ask Zayd or Gozour to help out.” Keith would reassure her “So, let’s go over the list again…”

“More supplies for the upcoming wedding…” Mary would begin “Some gifts for them, some chocolate for us, pink dye for our retribution prank and maybe a baby bed, in case either Lily or Maria will come back... stuffed.”

“You still think Katarina would be as reckless as that? Didn’t you say Ruler claimed she was eighteen when… you know…?” Keith would ask, everything else made sense – especially the dye, which was the agreed upon retribution for Katarina not bringing them all along. He wondered how she would look with pink hair.

“It’s Katarina alone with those two and ChiChi, yes – the chances of her being an idiot are much higher than usual.” Mary noted “Still… it’s not guaranteed, but I’d rather be prepared with the punch line in case we can land it.”

“Hm… well, a colorful shopping list.” Keith would chuckle.

“Indeed.”

**~ Alan and Da Vinci and Mozart ~**

“You know, you two are becoming more and more recluse with each passing day.” Da Vinci would scold the two of her current companions, she was currently practicing her singing – a thing she was really good at, but was slowly getting rusty due to all of the work leaving her mostly singing out orders, rather than songs.

“Says you.” Mozart would look at Da Vinci “You usually spend all of your free time doing something in your workshop, the only reason you are here is because there’s nothing for you to do.”

“Besides, we do have public performances at times.” Alan would add, his music has improved wonderfully through his spirit of competition with Mozart – comparing him now and three years ago, it wasn’t even close “Too many of them in fact, if you ask me.”

“All the freaking time, to be much more specific.” Mozart would correct him, they were highly sought after.

“You still almost never show up at the Mansion, whenever you have a free minute.” Da Vinci complained “In fact, you barely visit at all.”

“It’s much more convenient when people visit us, Lady Da Vinci.” Alan would say “Mary comes to visit every couple of days, for example.”

“Besides, we still have our own plans going forward – between the wedding and eventual enrollment of Master into that magical academy – there will be some good venues to perform.” Mozart would muse “Anyway, time to shut up about the everyday life and carry on with the singing practice, is it not why you are here?”

Da Vinci would look between those two, before letting out a sigh.

Honestly, they would turn into hermits eventually – going at this pace.

**~ Miri and Luigi ~**

“Honey.” Luigi would lift his head from the pillow “Did you feel that?”

Miri would lift her head also, focusing really hard. It wasn’t Macour, their guardian was as always – completely silent and subtle, at least she was pretty sure he was there. Never could tell with presence concealment.

“That feeling of dread and slight joy… hm. Did… did Katarina just do something really stupid?” Miri would ask, that feeling – it was a maternal feeling what her daughter just did something stupid.

“I think so, yeah.” Luigi would land his head back onto the pillow “Just what exactly…?”

Miri would get her head back onto a pillow as well.

“I guess we will find out soon enough.”

**~ Sophia and Ruler ~**

“Thank you for keeping me company, now that brother is in the academy.” Sophia would say once again, as she and Ruler would be having some tea – discussing romance novels, including some of Sophia's own writing.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really – especially since well, everyone else is busy right now or just plain don’t wanna talk with me.” Ruler would muse, smiling at Sophia “So, you are finishing another one of your books right now, am I correct?”

“Oh, yeah – it’s a romance novel about… you’ll find out when it’s out, actually.” Sophia would give a sly smile to Ruler, she wondered if she already read all of her works in the future, or did her existence here made all of them different – honestly, it was all rather confusing… and very interesting to Sophia, it still felt like she was living in a novel herself.

“Wow… and they call ME a tease?” Ruler would pout, reaching for a muffin.

“You… you are a tease, all the time in fact.” Sophia would blink, as Ruler clearly exposed her cleavage when reaching for the muffin - even if by accident “Just because I can tease people doesn’t make you any more innocent, you know.”

“Touche.” Ruler would note, through her muffin chewing “But to be honest, when I was alive most of my life has been spent working tirelessly on things, I do believe that allows me to joke around more so in the afterlife than most people.”

“No, I don’t think that’s how it works.” Sophia would giggle “Still, what did you think about...”

**~ Maria and Lily ~**

“Um, Maria… could you help me with something?” Lily would ask the young blonde for a second, while Katarina was off dealing with Goldie.

“Of course, what is it? Is something wrong?” Maria would ask, seeing how Lily would ask her for something while holding onto her stomach, weird - it wasn’t time for her periods yet. “Let me guess… cramps?”

“Y-yeah… I wanted to ask if your light magic could… you know… like the usual.” Lily was really not enjoying herself, all the way since that little request business her body was throwing a hissy fit.

“Of course. Let’s go and have you lie down.” Maria would escort Lily to a bed in the room dedicated for them and would start working her light magic.

“Thank you… ah…” Lily would twitch, as the pain would slowly ease - Maria was a wonderful doctor in her own right “You’re a lifesaver…”

“You know, this does look suspiciously similar to something but the timing seems off...” Maria would say, examining Lily a little bit closer. “Ah, so you went ahead with ChiChi’s request, than?”

“Wha…? Oh…” Lily would blush, looking away “T-that obvious, huh?”

“The modest lack of blood with all the symptoms does suggest it, yes.” Maria would deadpan “I might not be as good at this as Katarina or Sir Asclepius, but I know things. So how was it? Tell me everything.”

“Can… can we not talk about it?” Lily’s cheeks would flare up even harder.

“Consider it as a payment for nursing you back up?” Maria would propose, she would do so anyway – but she did want to know the details. “I never asked for anything all of those times.”

“Well… if you insist.” Lily would just sort of sigh, she did owe her a lot “It was… awkward. Painful. Nice? Kind of?”

“What do you mean?” Maria would ask, curious - painful she could understand, but awkward?

“Neither of us had any idea what we were doing or how to go about it, but since I insisted she took the charge as… Chiyome insisted I should do… ugh.” Lily would make a hand waving motion, signifying Katarina’s rune magic. “Mistress acquired additional tools.”

Maria would blush, she didn’t question the magic behind it - living with Katarina for years now made her just roll with things as they would come in.

“Right, she probably could do that. Yes. So there was penetration, in that case?” Maria would channel her magic down, to check if there was any major damage from that – Lily was flimsy in the best case scenario, so she was not at all surprised to see the extent of… ravaging. She would proceed to fix it all. 

“Yeah… and blood and it was pretty awful and painful for a while which was really confusing. I think my older self used to be quite a pervert and much more experienced at this then I am, but she seemed to think it would be funny not to include any of that experience so I was flying kind of blind.” Lily would admit, letting out a sigh “Ah, this feels much better…. Thank you again.”

“Say, when you mentioned you both had no idea what to do… did you take any precautions at all?” Maria would ask, tilting her head. Was that what Chiyome was playing at, really? Really?

“Precautions? What do you mean?” Lily would ask, confused.

“She didn’t… stuff you, did she?” Maria would ask “You know…”

Lily would look at Maria long and hard, before blushing “Ooooh! Oh. Well, she did – but I’m a heroic spirit, even if a flimsy one, there’s no way I can get.. you know….”

Maria would tilt her head to a dangerous level, considering giving Lily a slap on her forehead.

“Lily, remember every single time you had to come to me with period pain?” Maria asked, sometimes the little genius in front of her could be as stupid as her boss.

“… yes?” Lily would ask, cautiously.

‘Oh, nothing, nothing,” Maria said, trying to calculate in her head how long ago the last time Lily had her periods and if she would currently be absolutely primed for conception. After failing to do so, she just cheated with light magic – checking the source directly.

Well, that confirmed it. She would give Lily a glass of water, she wanted to see how she would react.

“Congratulations, I think you will be the first one to mother an heir for Katarina, Lily.” Maria said, once she took a nice gulp. The spit take was much more colorful than she anticipated, she really had no idea this could happen, did she?

“W-what?!” Lily would look at Maria aghast “W-wha-what?!”

Maria would wipe the water from her face.

This was going to be an interesting bees and birds talk. 

* * *

Having spent some time explaining everything to Lily in detail, Maria would then have to spend some time stopping her from panicking and hyperventilating as her panicking would reach a certain point.

“I am not ready for this, I am not ready for this, I am not ready for this, I am NOT ready for this.” Lily would be muttering, holding herself from pulling her hair out. 

“Well… are you not? You two are older when you appear and you did do something really stupid… so you probably should take responsibility.” Maria said, tilting her head “And Chiyome too, since she goaded you into this.”

“This body can’t even stretch without pulling a muscle at times, how would I even…” Lily would just imagine the strain that would cause.

“Knowing Katarina, she will find some magic to figure it out. Otherwise, we will have to call Lady Lamont and between the two of us we will just pump you up with light magic.” Maria would keep trying to calm Lily down “But you probably should tell Katarina the good news.”

“Good news?! Good news?!” Lily would almost freak out again.

Still…. She would tell, once she found her in the halls somewhere. 

[ It was kind of awkward.  ](https://i.imgur.com/b0JRpDY.jpg)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! Here's a little something for the good 2021!   
> And yes, I am not sure how silly this sounds, but ChiChi didn't quite understood there might be some time difference between when Ruler started to you know, make her family go wider.
> 
> On the off note, I am accepting appropriate name suggestions!  
> Also, did I mention the story is going places? Weird places, at that? ^_^  
> Still, I do think it's a natural progression to things, given the cast.
> 
> Anyway, Happy New Year! Don't forget to check illustration at the very bottom of the chapter.


	26. Chapter 22 - Confessions and Lamentations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That one time Lily had to tell everyone what's going on.

After the initial awkwardness of the announcement would fade, the really unpleasant part would swiftly follow – Lily was completely expecting it to happen, really but it still was a storm to weather. 

Katarina was a very gentle person, pretty much all violence she inflicted in her life was either due to her being scared for her life or her being influenced by black magic. She was also a very patient person, especially when it came to Lily - who tested her patience many times...

But right now? Right now Katarina was completely and utterly furious, much angrier than Lily ever saw her and it was scary. Of course all of her fears would be proven moot, no matter how angry Katarina would get – she would never raise a hand to hit Lily, nor practically anyone else for that matter – but the overall aura Katarina was outputting made Lily’s knees shake all the same.

Katarina herself would be pacing around the room, stomping angrily, trying her very best to hold herself together. She wanted to scream, she wanted to punch something, a wall maybe – she wanted to tell Lily everything she thought about the whole situation, but she would hold herself together. She knew she would go way too far if she opened her mouth right now, she didn’t want to blab something she would regret later – Lily was enough of a wreck without emotionally decimating her. 

After about half an hour of just venting her frustration by walking angrily, Katarina would stop and sigh. Lily would fidget a little bit - it was time to have a serious discussion.

“Mistress?” Lily would finally get enough courage to speak up, she was trying her hardest not to let her voice shake - like blood with sharks, she was afraid if her voice shook too much it would trigger a reaction. 

“Did you plan for this, whenever you asked me to… whenever you asked me to spend the night with you?” Katarina would ask, she decided she would reach a decision based on what the answer would be, as she was still processing everything.

“Wh.. n-no! I had no idea I could even get… pregnant.” Lily would try not to look away from embarrassment, really - she really should have figured that much out on her own “I swear, mistress! I am just as shocked as you are! It was never, ever my intention!”

Katarina would look at her command seal, she wondered if she should use it to make sure she was speaking the truth… but ultimately, would decide against it – it was an awful situation, but she held a lot of trust in Lily. 

“Gah!” Katarina would just throw her hands up in the air, frustrated. Yes, she realized this was partially her fault – she didn’t even consider the magical modification she made to herself for that night would allow for fertilization between two women… but Lily should really have warned her she was able to bear kids! 

They could have used protection of some kind, if she knew! The PSA’s back at school in Japan would totally paint them as the typical teenage pregnancy due to negligence, no doubt… but what do they know?

Lily would also sigh, she was just glad Katarina was well… herself. She wasn’t out of the danger of severe punishment, of course – but now she was sure it would not be physical, at the very least.

“So what do we do…?” Katarina asked, just trying to process everything – she would get so much crap for this from everyone, she already was having a headache about it. Her mother would literally kill her. That was almost as bad as a doom flag of her own making, gosh that’s a concept she didn’t think about for a while. “Is it not too late to just…”

“I… w-what do you mean, mi… Katarina.” Lily would force herself to refer to her by name, despite her body twisting a bit on the inside due to that - as she would stand her ground adamantly against what Katarina was about to imply. 

Katarina would take a single look and nod, Lily was all fired up. “I see. Okay. Well, we’ll both have to take responsibility, then.”

As Lily would let out a sign of relief, Katarina would come over and sit down next to Lily, putting a hand on her stomach.

“You know this will be incredibly dangerous with your size and how durable you are… right? I’m not even sure if it’s physically possible.” Katarina would ask, just trying to think what to do about the whole situation. As Lily would nod silently, she would just shake her head. “Alright. Fair enough.”

Lily would think about it some, before asking something herself. “Mistress… I know it’s presumptions of me to ask for something already, all things considered… but…”

“What is it?” Katarina would ask, looking her in the eyes. If she was bringing it up, it must have been important. 

“Whenever she will be born, will you recognize her as your child? I wouldn’t want her to be an… indentured servant.” Lily said - she would consider what she was to Katarina and it was an important thing to get out of the way well in advance.

“Remoria, are you listening?” Katarina would ask, waiting for the living castle to give a positive answer. Once she did, she would proclaim. “I, Katarina Claes swear on my life and honor as a duchess, what our child will be born free and will be recognized as a Claes, one way or another. So shall it be.”

Lily would ease up considerably, giving a soft smile. “Thank you, mistress.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Mother will absolutely eat us alive and Father will help her.” Katarina said, giving her an unamused look. “Still, now that I think about it, yes… that would be the appropriate course of action.”

“What do you mean?” Lily would ask, confused.

“I am going to fetch Ishtar and you little lady are going home. You will inform everyone of what transpired here and then you will proceed to enjoy as much rest as you need, you should get used to resting a lot. You barely can walk on your own usually, now imagine hauling a child.” Katarina said, as Lily would just blink a few times. “You may consider this as your punishment for landing both of us into this.”

“W-wha?! Tell everyone?! Mistress, p-please reconsider! Mistress! Mistress!”

* * *

A few hours later, Lily would find herself strapped to Maanna into her extra safe seat, flying very slowly back home. Of course, right now there was absolutely no difference to her physique compared to a few days ago, but Katarina told Ishtar to take no chances – as such they were flying back as slow as possible, enjoying the view.

“You know, while I am a goddess of lust AND fertility and I do approve in a way, have you two ever heard of using protection?” Ishtar would ask looking at Lily “Seriously, at your age it’s a pretty smart idea to not bear kids.”

“I’m way older than what I look like! So is Katarina.” Lily would object, but yes, she had a good point.

“You two look like kids, act like kids, smell like kids, talk like kids. I don’t care if you are a heroic spirit and she is a reincarnation or what not, you’re two are kids.” Ishtar would counter object “A couple of teenagers… well, not even that in your case.”

“Ishtar! I am not going to be lectured in anything like that by YOU of all people!” Lily would try to kill this topic at the seams, as Ishtar was having a point there for once. “Do you not remember what you did during the Summer Race...”

“Alright, alright… I get it, you’re stressed out enough as is. Jeez… no need to bring that up.” Ishtar would sigh, shaking her head. “Still, I overheard you mentioned to Master what you expecting a girl… isn’t she like a tiny embryo at this point, how’d you figured it’s a girl?”

Lily would blink, was she seriously asking that question?

“What gender am I?” Lily would ask, waiting for Ishtar’s answer. Once she answered, she would proceed. “What gender is Mistress?”

“We-well, yeah I get that – but didn’t she impregnate you somehow?” Ishtar would ask “Magic, I assume…?”

“Yes, but it’s still her DNA and my DNA combined, which leaves out male gender entirely. She will one hundred percent be a girl, or girls if we are particularly “lucky”.”

“You’ll burst at the seams if it’s twins.” Ishtar would note “So let’s hope it’s just one kid.”

“H-how about we talk about something else, anyway?” Lily would get fed up with this conversation. Why did these ridiculous things always happen to her, anyway?

* * *

It would take quite a bit of time to arrive at Claes Mansion this time, but they would reach it eventually. Ishtar would drop off Lily in the garden, before heading back to Remoria – she would wish her good luck in her task.

Lily would in turn, just sigh. Katarina was very kind and never would hurt her, but she understood her task was a punishment, as unjust as it may be – telling everyone the good news, she would really be eaten alive… she probably should go and tell her older self first, so she could provide covering fire if need be.

This. This was going to suck.

* * *

Lily would find her older self working on something in their shared workshop down at the Hive, which was quite a track to do – but then again, she really would need her help for this so it was distance worth taking. 

“Older me, are you available for a minute?” Lily would ask, barging in. She was asking just as a formality, she would pester her until she would come along anyway, there was not going to be turning her down.

“Ah, Mini-Me! You’re back from the trip already? That’s perfect, we are about to green-light the first expedition of new Chaldea and you will be needed for it… hm? What’s wrong?” Older Da Vinci would look at her younger self, who would turn away. “What? I thought you’d be ecstatic?”

“So you figured it out, then? The Phantom Moon?” Lily would ask, it was a project they were working on – a side variation of Paper Moon, intended to utilize what they learned about parallel realities and timelines, it would basically be a simulated kaleidoscope device, touching into the realm of the second true magic – using this device, they theorized ability to be able their return of Shadow Border to its proper reality and back here on demand, allowing them to proceed with restoration of Human Order.

“I believe so… but still, what’s going on? Here I was thinking you’d be all smiles…” Da Vinci would narrow her eyes, this smelled of something fishy. “Come on, fess up.”

“I’m pregnant.” Lily would say with a deadpan expression, looking at her older self. She would appreciate the straight forwardness. 

There was a second of silence, as gears would be turning in Da Vinci’s head.

“What.” Da Vinci would just let those words sink in for a second more, shocked. Of all the things she expected her to say, this was the LAST THING in the universe.

“I’m pregnant. With a child. From Mistress. I’m being very serious right now, Older Me. I need to tell everyone and I NEED your help, right now.” Lily said, as serious as she could without turning away.

Da Vinci would just sigh, as she would take off her glasses and rub the bridge of her nose. 

“Right. Well, alright. I am nothing if not dependable, very well then – let’s go.” She would decide not to push her smaller self with questions nor lectures, she clearly could figure out what she was thinking right now if that was the truth and she had no reason to doubt her words.

“…” Lily would be silent, as Da Vinci would head out – following her for a few seconds before saying “Thanks.”

Perhaps her older self wasn’t that bad all the time.

* * *

The first targets to break the good news to would of course be Miri and Luigi Claes, as they would be the ones making the most meaningful decisions alongside Katarina – Lily after all still was… well, servant at best. Geordo was officially Katarina’s fiance and her heart mostly belonged to Chiyome, Lily was just… well, extra wheel on a carriage full of wheels – really.

Da Vinci would go with a pretty straightforward solution, inviting both of them for a cup of tea – the two would come along without much complaint, but upon their arrival they would note Lily’s presence, exchanging meaningful looks before sitting down.

“So, I see Lily is back…” Luigi would bring up as soon as everyone had their tea, they both knew of course Katarina took her alongside herself on their adventure, since Katarina wasn’t here – she must be bearing some kind of shocking news.

“Or straight to the point, what is it?” Miri would ask, she didn’t really like dancing around the issue.

Da Vinci would shake her head slightly, those two were… they weren’t the most self aware people, but they sure knew whenever their daughter made a bundle.

“Lady Claes, Sir Claes… um.” Lily would just look at both of them, oh boy did she start sweating bullets once they would focus their attention on her.

“Yeees?”

Lily would just choke up under pressure, sort of looking at the two of them like a lamb about to be slaughtered. How did Katarina handle pissing them off?!

“The dumb-ass is pregnant from her dumb-ass of a mistress. Congratulations you will be grandparents.” Da Vinci would give up and tell them herself.

To both their surprise, their reaction was surprisingly grounded, past the initial shock. There was no screaming, not even a spit take - then again they had tea BEFORE they talked, specifically to avoid that. They would look between each other and let out a sigh.

“Well, it’s not as bad as we anticipated.” Luigi would admit reluctantly “But young lady, please explain yourself.”

“I assume Katarina sent you here to tell us to avoid getting righteously punished, oh she hasn’t been grounded in years but that’s going to change.” Miri would say, her eyes glinting dangerously.

“Aaah… t-that’s about the jist of it.” Lily would keep on sweating bullets, as she would explain everything to them – she also did mention Chiyome’s involvement in this, which she didn’t to Katarina for obvious reasons of not wishing to irk Chiyome too much. As benevolent as she appeared most of the time, Lily was fairly sure if she pissed her off enough - she would eventually wake up drowning in her own blood. 

“I assume… she was anticipating this result, but it’s still my fault for going along…” Lily said, finishing her story.

“She’s grounded also.” Miri said, clearly meaning it. “Now, young lady… ”

To Lily’s surprise, past the initial scolding about their early… bedside adventures, they were rather excited about the prospect of becoming grandparents, Miri would ask in detail what Lily was anticipating and she would also ensure her the child would be accepted into the family, no problem.

Well, there was still a little condition – her status as… “indentured concubine” would finally be made official, something everyone wanted to avoid until Katarina was of age… but this way, once the child would be recognized, it wouldn’t be a bastard.

After all, if a master, or in this case a mistress wanted a child from their concubine, it was not out of their reach, as long as it was official enough.

Lily thought it was… surreal how well that went.

* * *

Going through the usual correspondence as he would do every day, Geordo would take a note of a very fancy velvet felt paper envelope in his stack, which was a reassuring sign of correspondence from Claes household. Having gotten through the rest of his work, he would open the envelope and would read the letter hidden within.

He would narrow his eyes, it was a request to officially acknowledge Lily as Katarina’s… well, official words would be too rude to put on paper, but officially acknowledge her as Katarina’s property. Quite a barbaric way to put it, so he would just refer to it as her concubine.

Why would they do that now, of all times? He would think, the letter didn’t mention anything – but it had all the correct signatures, Lily’s included – but why were they going ahead with this several years ahead of what they planned initially?

Ah. Of course.

Geordo would let out a sigh, he was kind of hoping he would be the first one to the punch – in a couple of years once Katarina would be of age, but it seems his fiance was feeling frisky and forgot to pull out after all.

“Lily, huh… and here I thought it would be Maria…” He would mumble, he wasn’t sure if he was more sad about losing the bet or about the fact someone beat him to the punch. 

* * *

Goredolf would be going over some of the reports in preparation for their inevitable expedition back to their reality, to no one’s surprise - having absolutely no global oversight alike to the United Nations together with a limitless budget made for incredible speed of work, something Chaldea definitely did not enjoy back at home. There was practically no red tape here, if their team wanted something - they just had to put a requisition request and it would most likely be granted within a few days at most, if they got unlucky.

A luxury one could get used to, but still it was not without problems - the fact they would have to rely on experimental technology to get back home was a very questionable prospect, however Goredolf felt quite optimistic - as far as he gathered, Katarina Claes was born with a lucky horseshoe somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine, so they would most likely be fine.

Probably. Hopefully.

Well, maybe he should rephrase himself - even in his inner monologue, they owed a lot to their hostess. Even if she did manage to cause troubles, even now. Specifically, Shadow Border once again lost it’s main driver and a solution had to be figured out.

And the way they lost Lily this time around, seriously! 

Pregnancy! Out of all the stupid things to get saddled at home for, this was the dumbest one possible! Honestly, how did that borderline lolita manage to get Claes to mount her up… the process was escaping him, but he supposed at the end of the day the old knowledge from life carried over. All men are wolves, after all. 

Or well, he supposed maybe at this point Lily wasn’t even technically properly Da Vinci, so maybe he should be a bit more outraged about this… but then again, one does not bite the hand which feeds.

Still, stupid reasons aside - they had to figure out a way to pilot Shadow Border without utilizing her as it’s main processor core, Da Vinci mentioned having an idea of utilizing an artificial intellegence, but with her track history… then again, Mnemosyne was operating within acceptable parameters, from what he heard when he purchased Chaldea originally.

“Hm… well, I suppose this will have to do… “ Goredolf would sigh, as he would switch to have a spot of tea. “Then again, I hope it won’t go wrong or something…”

* * *

“You’re what?!” Ritsuka would stare at Lily, as she would drop the news bomb on her “Excuse me, huh?!”

“I believe she said she is going to be a mother, Senpai.” Mash would say, looking over at how flustered Senpai has gotten. It was… nice to be able to just go through the loops of whacky shenanigans they used to live through, before everything.

Adjusting has been surprisingly difficult for Mash, it’s not that it was difficult from the point of view of conditions - they were taken care of in the most excellent way, miss Anne and Cecilia were absolutely stunning at their job in helping them adjust… but going to such a slow, calm, well paced life after the turmoils they experienced was… difficult. 

“Mashu, do you not see a problem with that?” Ritsuka would look at Mash, coming closer to Lily and stretching her cheeks out. 

“I think it’s a beautiful thing, Senpai. She suffered so much, she deserves a happy family.” Mash said, she felt a little bit bad about riling senpai up, but she was just so adorable when she was flustered for someone else. 

“Could you please stop doing that?” Lily would ask, as Ritsuka was trying to tear her face off by her cheeks. “Gah, thank you…”

“So this is something that's happening… have you told Holmes yet?” Ritsuka would ask, thinking about the important things.

“Oh hell no, I am suffering through this, I am going to ride this for all it’s got.” Lily said - she would look forward to telling him. Maybe the other insufferable genius of their team would drop his pipe out of his mouth for once and not the other way around. 

“Okay, Mash! We need to get a camera right now.” Ritsuka would say.

“Don’t you have your cell phone, Senpai?” Mash would ask confused.

“... oh yeah, I probably can charge it up here, can’t I.” Ritsuka would scratch her head “Well, we need to charge it right now! Before he finds out.”

“Before he finds out what, exactly?” Sherlock would ask walking into the room, his timing - awful as always.

Lily would sigh, she did also want to take a snapshot of his reaction, but she supposed she would have to settle for the camera feed. 

“Well…”

* * *

“Hear hear, Emergency Meeting of the Council is now underway. Everyone is present?” Geordo would smack his mallet to gather everyone’s attention, apart from him there was Alan, Mary, Nicol, Sophia and Keith. Maria was missing for now, being on a trip with Katarina - but almost everyone out of their little council was here. 

“Do I HAVE to be here?” Alan would ask, crossing his arms. Whatever this nonsense was this time, he would much rather spend this time practicing his music.

“Yes, honey - now shut up and listen.” Mary would pat him on the head, seriously was he dense or what.

“You do have to be here, Alan - as the news is very important.” Geordo would say “I believe it will not come as a surprise to some, but it seems shenanigans have indeed occurred. I suspect it has something to do with Chiyome, but I have it on good authority that Lily is going to bear a child.”

There was murmuring. 

“So she can do that with her magic! I knew Ruler was dodging that question with particular fervor!” Sophia would claim “Outrageous! But… why now?”

“I guess that baby bed will not go to waste after all, Mary.” Keith would sigh, rubbing his forehead. He was going to be an uncle? That was… news.

“I kind of hoped going for a practical joke would jinx it the other way around.” Mary would admit “That is a devastating defeat for us as a whole, but it may suit our purposes! After all, as long as it’s not Chiyome she isn’t making any more progress then we do.”

“Indeed.” Geordo would agree with the general sentiment. Of course, he would have preferred to be the first one to settle down a baby, but at the end of the day - at the very least Katarina wasn’t the mother in this case. “That is a big victory in that sense.”

All told, despite their differences and bickering and infighting - the factions surrounding Katarina and her harem were rather simple. There was the “Chiyome” faction, with the sole member of it being Chiyome - which was, truthfully, more than enough to hold a solid lead on Katarina’s heart. Then there was the “everyone else” faction, which did everything it could to slow Chiyome down, without appearing too united, as to not draw the kunoichi’s wrath. However, Lily was not part of either of the camps. 

“Isn’t Katarina a little bit young to have kids? I mean, I know she hangs around with a bunch o… actually, nevermind - makes sense.” Alan would sigh.

“I say, we should show as much support to Lily as we can. It is not out of the question what Chiyome was the one behind this, in which case whatever reaction she was aiming for would be a negative one.” Nicol suggested he took time off from studying to attend this meeting.

“Yes, no negative reactions of any kind.” Mary would agree “Let’s drown her in affection so she finally joins our group and from there, we can move forwards to victory!”

“So, show Lily and the future baby lots of love and affection, everyone for?” Geordo would ask, lifting his mallet. 

“Aye!”

“The aye’s have it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, okay - I wanted to point something out here, because I might have done a less than stellar job explaining it before. As per a comment received, some of you might wonder - how did Katarina agree to Lily’s seemingly ridiculous request, of well - spending a night with her.
> 
> The answer is pretty obvious - she isn't a stranger to love. And no, I am not weaving the rest of the song into this.   
> But to put it simply, Katarina is mature enough mentally where she feels she has the right to decide what she does on that field, Chiyome is a heroic spirit who is mature enough to also be able to do that. They like each other. Remember the shower scene and sharing a bed since then? They like each other. Now, Chiyome takes way more precautions than Lily ever did, but that’s beside the point.
> 
> Now, whenever being put into a smaller, younger body takes precedence over your mental age being higher, that’s an entirely different can of worms, but even if it does - at this sort of age, having children around this age is not preposterous, history wise. They know the rules and so do I.  
> Katarina has no problems with lovemaking. What she does have a problem with, people around her acting ridiculously lewd in public or doing really weird things. Lily buying a questionable outfit and loudly talking about it? Weird, but she doesn’t stop Maria from buying it for her, because she wouldn’t mind seeing it on her later. But the process being public to her is embarrassing, just like it would be to you, if you went and bought something questionable in public. 
> 
> Also, I never specifically stated it outright, but this is also kind of Lily’s direct job. I never said it specifically cause I am not sure if it’s still rating T friendly, but the contract she forged with Katarina was with her being under the impression Katarina WAS someone who would then instantly ask her to spread herself on the bed. A full commitment's what she was thinking of. You wouldn't get this from any other gal.
> 
> I just wanted to tell you how I'm feeling.
> 
> Gotta make you understand my point of view, as it is quite convoluted and I still write mostly for myself.
> 
> TL:DR - Katarina is actually not that shy from sex, despite her bouts of being embaressed about it publically. She's also bisexual and she will never going to give up people she likes.


	27. Chapter 23 - (Lostbelt Depth B+) Eternal Frozen Fire Century, Götterdämmerung (Start)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit something different from the usual. Major Fata/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt spoilers, as you should expect.

Meanwhile, as events were set in motion all over the world and Katarina was not quite back yet from Lousabre, the work was being done fast, down at the Hive. With Lily and Da Vinci both there to work on the problems surrounding Shadow Border – they got them ironed out fast.

The solution to Lily’s inability to voyage with them going forward, was in the end pretty straight forward and expected. After all, she needed Katarina to be around to survive. For the solution – they simply made a digital copy of her, thankfully they had plenty of data to work with. While Lily was slightly concerned about having an artificial intelligence modeled after her, she wouldn’t object that much in the end – after all she was majorly at fault for getting them into this mess to begin with, as such – the Red Queen was born.

Well, actually the name was something what Blackbeard had a hand in – as the main room in the Hive dedicated for a possible AI extension was in fact labeled as “Red Queen’s Chambers”, the two Da Vinci’s had a suspicion this was some kind of reference from him – but wouldn’t really pay it too much thought, after all it was a pretty cool name.

So, it would only be a few weeks before they had enough capability to get back to it and Goredolf felt safe enough to authorize an expedition back to Scandinavia, as their priorities to save the Human Order didn’t change and who knew how much time they had left to do that… as such, the orders been given.

* * *

“Alright everyone, double and triple check everything! Everything, every calculation too! We can’t assume everything will be sunshine and roses just because things went our way once!” Goredolf would shout orders, as everyone would be running around akin to headless chickens, trying to get some of the last preparations in order. “Stock up plenty of supplies, we really don’t want to end up in the same position as last time!”

“Gosh, I don’t think Shadow Border can handle any more weight, Director.” Lily would say, as she would just look at the data regarding all of the stuff he had loaded onto it. “Are you planning to go for Wandering Sea straight after dealing with the Scandinavian Lostbelt? I feel it would be safer to return here first.”

“Hm, yes that’s right, Technical Advisor. Ruler has been very… general in her description of whenever our enemy can detect where it is we are going and I promised Lady Claes what we will put this world under as little danger as possible. If there is indeed another stronghold waiting for us there, it is imperative to secure it first and then establish a foolproof tunnel.” Goredolf would say, letting out a sigh “And well, we don’t even know if your little device will work. I have faith it will get us there, but will it really work both ways?”

“That’s… a good point, Director.” Lily said, not really shying away from the fact he was right, she had absolutely no clue if it would work both ways from their point of operation.

“G-gah! You’re not supposed to agree with me on that! Please tell me it will work both ways!” Goredolf would react as expected, before being interrupted by Ritsuka and Mash.

“Reporting for duty, Director! Da Vinci!” Ritsuka would be quite chipper, having gotten plenty of rest and having gotten accustomed to not being in constant danger all the time, for a little bit.

“Ah, you two… good, good. I see Mash is back in Ortenaus…” Lily would note, overlooking the armored girl. That armor sure took a beating, but now it looked good as new. Her older self sure did a lot of work in the background…

“Hai! All combat parameters optimal, with everything set and Ruler alongside us, we should be all set for what lies beyond!” Mash was… cautiously optimistic.

“As long as we get there safe and sound!” Ritsuka would smile “Well, let’s see what the future has in store for us.”

* * *

As everyone minus Lily would board, the inner preparations would begin. Paper Moon would be detached and replaced with Phantom Moon, the original Paper Moon would be used as a bait to put some distance between them and their main problem upon return to the Scandinavian lostbelt – Saber Class Servant, Sigurd.

To say that he went through them like a hot knife through butter once, was to say nothing – they would need reinforcements to deal with him, which required time. So – the expensive piece of technology would be sacrificed to achieve that.

With that, they were all set.

“Alright everyone, strap in nice and tight. Activating Phantom Moon Stage 1.” Da Vinci would say over the intercom, as they would slowly start preparing the large chamber housing Shadow Border for infusion with void space – just like the time they performed the rescue operation. “Initiating planet navigational chart plus/minus conversion. Commencing Shadow Border undocking sequence into void space. Time difference between void space and real space is… ugh… oh boy… I mean, within acceptable range. Break a leg everyone!”

Goredolf would fidget in the driver's seat, that did not sound too reassuring. 

With that said and done – they would head out the reigns to the Red Queen, who would then proceed to drive the Shadow Border towards the initial goal – Scandinavian Lostbelt. As they would begin moving, the second stage of Phantom Moon would be activated. If stage one was an imitation of Paper Moon, the second one was an imitation of Kaleidoscope magic – so upon its activation, they were back home. Due to the nature of void space, the transition was much less… flashy, then one would expect.

“Realm shift complete. Arriving at the destination in three minutes.” The AI would report, as everyone in the vehicle would get ready. “Please do remember the target appears to be able to utilize snow as means for seek and destroy. I would advise staying alive or mostly alive.”

“Okay everyone, stick to the plan!” Ruler would stretch herself, this was going to be interesting. Sigurd… well, on a good day without anything fishy – Sigurd was a dangerous opponent. This Sigurd, was borderline menace. Still, this plan worked once as far as she knew, so why wouldn’t it work now? “I’ll chuck the thing once we emerge fully.”

Ruler would then go to the port where they stored Paper Moon in its nice little bounded field container, the moment she felt a little nudge of exiting into real space – she would focus and concentrate. Sure enough, there was a massive energy signature running towards them, snapping onto them like a bloodhound. Bloody hell this guy did not lose any time.

“Well, you want this piece of crap, you can have it.” Ruler said, as she opened the latch and would toss the Paper Moon out, hoping it wouldn’t still explode into smithereens despite all the protection. They would recover it at a later point, but still – for now this was going to make them not target number one for the guy with too much fire in his step.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Wandering Sea – one Sion Eltnam Atlasia would have a spit take, at having someone chuck her precious life works out the Shadow Border like it was a piece of trash.

* * *

Fires burning in eternal flame, snow discharged with magical energy – roaming giants, straight from the Age of Gods, that is the landscape of the Scandinavian Lostbelt – it was a place of mysticism, more so than anything else. Cold, frigid world with just select few small villages – carefully curated to sustain only a small population.

Honestly, the place made Ruler sick to the core. Nothing grew here, the trees were just ice shaped to look alike. Nothing had a future here – it was the world after destruction, but not before oblivion came to claim everyone. People knew not of pain, but they lived more akin to livestock – being sent to be eaten by giants as soon as they reached adulthood… and the giants themselves, just thralls following the orders of Lostbelt king, or queen in this case. Scathach Skadi.

Well, she would be someone to deal with a bit later – currently, as they were making their way through the area, trying to locate a certain lad – one who would help them immensely on their journey here. Ruler wanted to if possible not have to involve the village folk, especially Greta – as she faintly recalled she was one of the people who contributed to… significant mental strain on Ritsuka and Mash. After all – they were going to prune this history soon enough.

Still, if they would have to resort to that – there was no going around the issue, after all you do what you know works if everything else fails. At the very least so far they didn’t run into any giants and Sigurd, whom as expected would buzz off the second he got his hands on the Paper Moon, as Ophelia – his master desired. He had strict orders not to kill Mash and she would believe them helpless without the device, as such… not worth pursuing at the moment.

“Oh, look! There are birds! So there is life out there, after all!” Mash would bring up, looking at one of the monitors – two ravens were visible flying just above them. Of course, Ruler knew it was just Huginn and Muninn – they always were around, one way or another. She wondered if Katarina figured out yet what those two were following her, just as these two would follow them right now. Then again, probably not – she was particularly bad with recognizing birds apart, after all.

“Hm, you should remember those birds.” Ruler commented, not going into details “Also Mash, have you checked out your Ortinax Ollerus Boards attachments yet?”

“Skis… they are skis. And yes, I did.” Mash would insist, they already had that discussion with Senpai and came to conclusion, they were just really bad-ass skis.

“Well, the name don’t matter none, just make sure you are familiar with them. You will have to go out on your own at least a few times during this…”

“H-hey! Sorry to interrupt your chit chatter, but there’s a girl being chased by a bunch of giants!” they heard Meuniere over the intercom, as the vehicle made a sharp turn “I’ll put us between them, take them out fast! They will no doubt damage our armor if allowed, so get out there and give them hell, everyone!”

“Ah… right.” Ruler said “So much for that.”

Now she remembered, they saved her - didn’t they. That’s how they met… history likes to go down the same paths all too much, as far as Ruler was concerned. Oh very well then, they would dance.

* * *

Saving Gerda overall was not such a difficult task, it was just some giants which Mash could handle on her own – they were strong, but her exoskeleton was not made out of tissue either. The young girl, as expected – would be looking for special healing herbs, which grew only up closer to mountains, where giants hanged around in the one area where the fire burning the mountains produced enough heat to allow for a patch of fertile land.

So, you know – the hornets nest, to which they would head out after getting her into Shadow Border and slowly introducing themselves. The girl obviously was thankful to be saved, however the whole envoy business was much harder to sell with the vehicle they had – as it was nothing unlike she or anyone else in this world saw for generations.

Still, progress was progress and as they moved closer to the giant’s flower gardens – a Spirit Origin signature was picked up by the Shadow Border. Reaching closer, it appeared to be a hulking, handsome man hauling around what appeared to be the ship's cannon. Bingo.

Ruler would ask them to approach him full speed ahead, as she would exit Shadow Border and would yell, as they approached.

“Hey, nerd! Get in the car or eat our dust! We have humanity to save!” Ruler said, she knew the man who heralded rainbows – Napoleon, liked straight forward thinking.

For Napoleon himself, being a reasonable if slightly confused at the moment man – would take this challenge quite well, with a hearty laugh and giving of a smile – as dazzling as the first rays of the morning sun. “C'est magnifique! Well, if a beautiful maiden goads me to get in, how can I refuse?”

* * *

Thankfully, being a relatively charming lad – Napoleon managed to introduce himself well enough to everyone despite they picked him up under severely different circumstances when the fate itself would prefer, but with him on board and their knowledge and with the enemy unaware of their actions so far, apart of queen Skadi herself – she did control all of the snow in the realm after all and could see everything - they had a fairly shot at solving lostbelt in one swoop motion.

Realistically, the linchpin of the whole scenario was Sigurd – who was priority number one on their “get rid of him as soon as possible” list, to do that – they needed to assault the location in North-west of the lostbelt, where a valkyrie was held – Brynhildr, Sigurd’s beloved... and his doom.

Between Ruler, Napoleon and Brynhildr – Sigurd should fall swiftly enough to the point where his inner demon would come out… and from there, it’s the final stretch of this world.

Easy on paper, much scarier on practice and execution – after all, the name of that demon was Surtr and his power of fire was not absolute, but it was meaningful. He would consume the whole realm and beyond in fire, if allowed to exist past the moment he would break from his bond – so they would most likely have to rely on assistance from Ophelia in the end, something Ruler also wanted to avoid, as she recalled that was what killed her in the end.

A complicated situation, but at least the company was worth it – Napoleon was a playboy and a smooth talker, something Ruler did appreciate in a man so they had a good running start. 

* * *

“And that is the plan, everyone.” Ruler would lay it out to everyone, as they were slowly getting the flower patio. “Any questions?”

“Yes, what’s the name?” Ritsuka would ask, after thinking a little bit. 

“Questions regarding the plan. None? Okay, in that case - off we go.” Ruler said, letting out a sigh and reaching for her cup of tea. “Also the name’s plan is… it doesn’t have one.”

“No, what’s the name of the baby?” Ritsuka would ask, she was curious for some time now.

“What baby?” Ruler asked, confused “Gerda? She’s not exactly a baby…”

“The one Katarina and Lily are having right now, what’s her name?” Ritsuka would raise an eyebrow, she expected Ruler to catch up faster.

“Oh…” she would sip some tea, as she tried to process what she was asked.

A second pass, a sip. Another second, another sip. Then the spit take would follow.

_**“They are having the what?!”** _

That was too damn early!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I took a small break from writing - as I am doing much more art practice these days... (IF you want to follow my practice, I am on twitter btw - https://twitter.com/daawnily ). But I will finish the story, even if chapters will start coming out slower then before. Speaking of story, time for Lostbelt 2 time! Major FGO spoilers ahead, obviously.
> 
> Also yes, a slight thing which Ruler forgot to mention... they didn't quite get to babymaking as fast as Chiyome thought they did, from their discussion. In fact, they are about... five or so years too early.


	28. Chapter 24 - (Lostbelt Depth B+) Eternal Frozen Fire Century, Götterdämmerung (Denial)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Skandinavian lostbelt adventures.

Having gotten over the initial “shock and awe” reaction and after shaking both Ritsuka and Mash for some answers, Ruler concluded that her younger self is an idiot, Chiyome is a bigger idiot and she herself is an even bigger idiot than those two for opening her trap door of a mouth and telling them literally anything.

For crying out loud, the irresponsible idiots! Of all the stupid things in the world to do, now of all times - this was probably the one Ruler never would even begin to fathom.

Well, whatever – she supposed Arlette would be born a few years earlier, nothing major… Apart from the fact she had absolutely no idea how that would influence the events going forward, Lily is in no way shape ready for what that will bring and oh, seriously - why, why, oh why. 

Still… it was not all bad. Arlette, her oldest child - she was looking forward to seeing her again. For someone born of herself and ever so timid Lily, she was a major pain in the ass, but one she loved dearly. The only little issue to overcome now was surviving the Lostbelts, butterfly effect was kind of a concern.

First order of business was to sort out Gerda’s need for medicinal herbs – it also helped as it would throw their observer for a loop on their intentions, overall the process didn’t take much time at all – everyone made short work of giants trying to smash Shadow Border to smithereens while Gerda picked up the necessary herbs. They dropped off the girl afterwards and would make a line for the prison of the fallen Valkyrie.

Perhaps it was a little heartless, to just drop her off like that - confused, but at the very latest safe. But she would likely get hurt in combat if they didn’t and they had not much time to lose before someone would really start suspecting they were carrying out some sort of a defined plan. Their biggest strength was the fact their enemies didn’t know that they knew what they knew. 

The hit on the facility guarding Brynhildr went without a hitch, as it was a surprise attack. The mass produced Valkyrie’s stationed there did not anticipate a giant man with a ships cannon firing upon them while going hundred miles an hour on an armored transport. The fallen Valkyrie herself, after being rescued, was not exactly thrilled at the idea of having to fight Sigurd, but after having everything explained properly would acknowledge the need for her to act and just like that, they were just a step away from their endgame. 

The rest of the plan was as follows contact with Sitonai, who was held at the castle of Scathach Skadi – a high servant who was a combination of several divine spirits, one of them being Freya… she would prove useful in the second objective:

Take the fight to Siguard… and preferably, demolishing him – he was one dangerous opponent and Ruler knew he would be dangerous even with the overwhelming advantage they had. Brynhildr, herself, Napoleon, Sherlock in mint condition – as well as extended knowledge… yet it was still dangerous to face him.

Honestly, the fact there are timelines where Ritsuka faces him properly and comes out on top seems really far fetched, when you consider everything. Ah well, just comes to show how stubborn that woman really is.

Still, there was not that much time to dwindle – if they managed to throw off Scathach Skadi’s interpretation of their intents for a little while after their arrival, breaking Brynhildr out was pretty much an open declaration of war – one which would be met with an increasing number of valkyries in the skies, trying to obliterate them from afar as they were approaching the castle. Now, dodging what really was orbital artillery wasn’t exactly the hardest thing to do in the world, it was still annoying.

Thankfully, Napoleon was one hell of a good shot and Goredolf alongside the Red Queen managed to drive them all the way there safely with only minor glances to the shielding. Once they got close enough to see the crystalline ice bridge leading to the castle of Snow and Ice, Ritsuka and the servants would get out of the Border - letting them go and make some distance for now.

“Okay, Napoleon and Sherlock, you’re with me and Mash.” Ritsuka would command “Ruler and Brynhildr, you can handle him on your own until we make contact, right?”

“Yes, that should be relatively easy as he will most likely not go all out straight away.” Ruler would confirm “But you should go, I already sense his magical signature. He’s one hell of a fiety sadist and unlike Geordo he will singe straight away”

Ritsuka would nod and the four of them would move out to the side, towards one of the entrances to the castle dungeons, located under the bridge – Ruler and Brynhildr would storm the castle directly, drawing attention. Thankfully, as far as they knew Sigurd had no intentions of obeying anyone but Ophelia and Ophelia did not have the same degree of omnipresence as Scatchach did due to her magic imbued snow. Making some noise would be enough to get his undivided, murderous attention.

“Well, let’s get this party started.” Ruler would grin.

* * *

As Ritsuka and everyone would make it into the dungeons under the castle, they would encounter quite a few phantasmal beasts, courtesy of Koyanskaya judging by the NFF markings on their bodies, but nothing they couldn’t handle even in close quarters. Having proceeded into the dungeon further they would find the cell they were looking for and having blasted it open would look around, it was seemingly empty…

“Here you are, took you long enough.” A young girl's voice would ring through the cell, as Ritsuka would look around again – spotting a short girl with a snowy motif going for her, one going by the name of Sitonai she assumed. “Or well, I kind of expected you to get thrown here and not you busting in here like that, but I suppose that’s due to your unexpected friend… weird, isn’t it… I’m Sitonai, but something tells me you know that already, don’t you?”

“Fujimaru Ritsuka.” Ritsuka said “Pleasure to meet you, that's Mash and…”

“Yeah, let’s get the rest of introductions out of the way once we get moving, before we get mushed into the snow? You’re making mother really angry right now and she is nice and full of magical energy.” the girl would get out of the cell “Honestly, you people work fast… just how much do you know?”

“Yeah… about that….”

* * *

Ruler would dodge down as Gram, Sigurd’s demonic sword was about to slice her in half, instead it just sliced one of her spears clean in half. Good thing she could materialize those out of the snow and ice around, otherwise she would have been weaponless for some time now.

Having dodged that, she would go for a leg swipe and then would expel a good chunk of mana to propel herself away from Sigurd, who did get tripped by the swipe somewhat, but regained his balance pretty much instantaneously – he would then proceed to swing his sword to cause massive patches of fire to appear chasing after Ruler, each one could end her if she was to get so unlucky as to get hit. Joy.

It was at that moment, Brynhildr would try to impale her beloved (or at least, someone who looked like her beloved) with her spear, right in the back – however that strike got blocked by Sigurd’s free hand, which simply grabbed the spear and would use it as a lever to proper Brynhildr right into the ground, mallet style - making a tidy valkyrie shaped hole in the ground.

“What is this, Wile E Coyote…” Ruler would make a grimace, as she would fire several ghandr shots at him and would go back to melee combat, trying to go for his head with another created ice spear, she was using the most subtle rune magic she could, as so he wouldn’t pick up on the fact she knew it, or at least much of it. 

It was important, as this revelation could make him go all out nuclear and that was not something they wanted. Still, the two of them barely managed to occupy him long enough for everyone else to arrive.

* * *

The first to arrive back would be Napoleon, who would do what he does best – shoot his cannon at the enemy, who would deflect it in the most amusing way. He simply caught the destructive cannonball with his hand and would throw it back so hard, it almost got the poor Emperor, who would have to dodge – it did however buy an opportune moment for Brynhildr to strike again jumping out of the hole she was in, however this was counteracted by Ophelia’s arrival to the scene of battle – she used a command seal to empower Sigurd even further.

With the restrictions on him being partially restricted, Sigurds eyes would begin glowing even more demonic red color, as he would almost turn Brynhildr into a nice minced treat, if not for a well timed block by Mash, who would get in there using her super awesome tech skis to make up the distance, however the strike sent her flying back despite the shield taking it without being sliced in two.

“Mmm… finally, some exercise. It was getting mighty boring.” Sigurd would give a twisted grin, as he would go on an offensive, it was difficult keeping track of him, he was like an afterimage – moving too fast for a normal human to see, thankfully he didn’t seem interested in looking for Ritsuka directly, preferring instead to assault the servants.

With help from Sherlock who arrived a little bit later than everyone else, they would manage to slow him down enough for Sitonai to align a good shot of her magic, which would temporarily bind the demon possessed warrior in icy restraints, enough for Bryn to pierce him with her spear just a tiny bit.

“Haaah… first blood, mmm…” Sigurd would then break free from the ice, his spirit origin flaring up – he was not used to being injured, nor was he conditioned to fighting Chaldean’s yet – unlike he was supposed to be. The eternal flame within him, it was more than eager to get out… with a little bit of help.

It was about at this time, the queen of the Lostbelt herself arrived, having walked out of her castle bringing down a massive hailstorm with herself – making everyone brace themselves against the weather, she was being very patient so far – however the power she sensed within Sigurd has left her little choice but to act immediately, despite her wishes to wait for a more opportune moment to punish all of them for their transgressions.

“Ophelia. You never told me…” she would quip at the one who lived alongside in the castle, without even bothering to inform her of what her servant was or rather what he contained. “Get him under control. NOW.”

But it was too late.

* * *

Well, it wasn’t actually – if events would unfold as they were supposed to. Ophelia was his master after all and she had command seals to burn and even Sirius Light, if she absolutely needed to – she could contain the power within Sigurd well enough if not for a simple change in the timeline – Ruler and Sherlock’s presence on sight.

As the detective would use his lenses to suddenly blind Sigurd, Ruler would inscribe a death rune in the chaos – very nearly killing Sigurd and letting the proverbial genie out of the box. With a little gesture of her finger, enormous magical signature would force its way out of the warriors body, as he would slump down exhausted.

“And now… everyone.” Ruler said, as she looked at the sun overlooking the Lostbelt. “You might want to put your sunglasses.”

There was a little oddity about the sun inside the Scandinavian lostbelt, it appeared much closer and larger then it had any right to be, without incinerating all life on land and beyond… in fact, it looked a little bit sketchy even past that little detail, the hue and intensity of it was more akin to a red giant, more than anything.

Which was a funny thing, since as the entity which left Sigurd made its way to the sun… and then the sun would start to bleed black – as an enormous, gigantic figure would form itself going down, for the sun was not in fact a celestial body. It was a prison, housing one big, red son of a… giant. Surtr, Giant of the end. As he would slowly begin coming to his senses and stand towering over the realm, he would let out a roar.

“Well ugh… when you said he would be big, you didn’t specify he would be “larger than the mountains, mon cher.” Napoleon would note to Ruler “This is one of those hitting the broad side of a mountain situation!”

“What have you done?!” they all heard from the direction of Ophelia and Scathach, no one was sure which one made that remark, but judging by the fact Ophelia was just flabbergasted and was staring dumbly at the towering ginormous figure, it was probably the latter.

“We did what we had to do, while we have the advantage over him and not the other way around.” Ruler said, as she would motion Sherlock to go alongside Ritsuka, while everyone was occupied by Surtr’s newfound presence, they had a valuable thing to retrieve after all. “Now, if you would be so kind to help us bring that monstrosity down for good, that would be appreciated, your majesty!”

Scathach would open her mouth to say something about the sheer audacity of them requiring her help after doing this, but would stop herself – there was no point in arguing, if he was not stopped he would surely burn her realm to ash… in fact, it was at that time she realized the second she let herself get distracted, the monstrosity was swinging his enormous flaming sword at her castle, flailing blindly as his mind and body were still not in unison. Channeling a fair bit of her energy, she would manage to deflect the strike, causing a spur of laughter from Surtr.

“Fools! You cannot stop the flame itself… ah… but I forget. Ophelia… come with me… together, we will make sure there will be no more Sundays for you to hate…” as the giant would activate the curse he had placed on Ophelia. It was an odd summoning they had, she did not originally intend to summon him - it just… happened. Two misfits, brought together in a way - it was when they met their gazes, had he placed that curse onto her. It was then he decided she would be alongside him, whenever he would bring fiery destruction upon the realm once again. 

Having done so, Surtr - finally regaining all of his senses would let all of his latent power flow through his body, including that of the Fenrir, whom he devoured long ago. As sheets of ice started to transform his body partially into a giant of both flame and frost, he would pick up Ophelia as gently as he could - she was in a catatonic state now, after all and didn’t resist, for now. 

* * *

“And now he’s made of fire AND ice? Well, that is most problematic. It seems there is some sort of magecraft on his previous master…” Sherlock would note, as something in the corner of the eye caught his attention. Sigurd, he still lived – assuming all evidence present in front of him, this was the actual hero of legend moving in his own body, as he would reach for his demonic sword. “Well, our target is clear… could we get some protection enchantments, miss Claes?”

“Ruler, just call me Ruler.” she said, as she would inscribe runes of protection on everyone, they would just burn up getting closer to the giant otherwise. “Oh, it looks like the sleeping beauty has woken up.”

“Ah, I’m afraid I’m no beauty, fair warrior.” Sigurd would say, not really taking being called that to heart, he was nothing if not pinnacle of patience. “While the situation appears to be… problematic…”

“Ah, Sigurd! My beloved! I must… ah…” Brynhild would forget about everything as she heard her beloved, without his voice being twisted with notes of sarcasm and hatred. She almost would pick up her spear to twist it into the body of her beloved, but he acted faster, taking her into a gentle hug and giving her a kiss.

Immediately following that, everyone's attention would forcibly be snapped to the fact the giant has seemingly lost any interest in them, choosing instead to head towards the direction in which, if they had to guess, was one of the villages, akin to the one they dropped Gerda off.

“O, my beloved Brynhildr. I’m afraid our reunion will have to wait, for we appear to have a bigger crisis to handle.” he hoped her senses would get the better of her, staving off her need to kill him for a little while. Having said that, Sigurd would immediately dash on an intercept trajectory to the giant, hastily inscribing protection runes of his own, he was after all partially responsible for this mess and he had no intentions of letting this monstrosity roam free.

“Well… he sure is a big damn hero.” Ruler said, blinking as her eyes would follow him “W-well, what are we waiting for? Charge after him!”

They would all follow posthaste.

* * *

They had to act fast, all things considered – they did kind of take things a little bit too slow already, with letting him move away from the castle, in the ideal world they wanted to wrap up the whole thing before Ophelia snapped to her senses and used her Sirius Light to help subdue Surtr at the cost of her life… something which was still a possibility.

It all came down to the fact that, despite getting plenty of mana from Ritsuka and being in greater numbers and with the best support and advantage possible, Surtr-Fenrir, was a beast. To strike him, they had to climb up in the air using magic, which was thankfully provided by Scathach as she wanted him stopped more than anyone else present – which put one in the range of his sword, the size of which would rival the tallest skyscraper in Pan-human history.

It also didn’t help he did not feel shy about overkill, trying to swat them out of the air like flies whenever he got too irritated at them for attempting to slow his advance, he was losing his patience and was doing so rather fast…

He wanted Ophelia to see the downfall of this lostbelt, he wanted her to observe as he would kill all of Chaldeans - which she couldn’t right now – but, in the end maybe he would just save the destruction of her Crypter buddies for her to observe. Having decided that, he would turn around – facing towards where Ritsuka was standing overlooking the battlefield, on top of the Shadow Border. For a second, their eyes would meet – one set of a giant and one set of a mortal way over her head.

He would lift his sword, intending to send down a killer shockwave – as a concentrated beam of rainbow colors would hit him, almost making him trip. It was that annoying showoff of a heroic spirit, the one who asked Ophelia to marry him on the first time they met… the name eluded him, but he was channeling all of his magical energy into this concentrated beam of energy. What were they planning…

It was at this moment, as he was distracted by Napoleon’s most powerful salvo yet, his body would get penetrated by Brynhildr Romantia, he was of course not intended target – Sigurd was… but they used him as a convenient target dummy to aim Brynhild’s might strike, her noble phantasm right into the heart of the giant. 

It was a mighty strike… fueled by her love and hatred for Sigurd, there was not much that could survive it, but Surtr was on that short list, however it seemed he would not get to destroy everything as he so desired. It made him… angry.

Angry enough to forego the polite conduct of combat and just kill their master in the easiest way he knew how. He would inscribe a death rune, aimed at Ritsuka, with a simple movement… all what remained was ashes.

* * *

Everyone would observe the giant, as he stood there motionless – with Brynhilds enormous spear stuck in his heart area, after they managed to land the strike – Ruler, Sigurd, Scathach and Brynhild would immediately use their combined rune magic to put him into a state of imagination, whatever he was seeing right now had no actual application in reality.

“So what do we do now? We barely managed to dent him with all of that…” Mash would ask, as she was just amazed by the amount of magical energy it must be taking Surtr to stay alive.

“Now, we repay him in kindness for what he put Sherlock through. Everyone… together!” Ruler said, as they would start etching death runes together aimed at him. Set after set, picking up pace with practice – the crackling sound would overtake the clearing, away from the sounds of burning land – it was like a whole little area around the giant was dying, the air would go stale, the ground would turn to sand as the giant would being cracking bit by bit, inch by inch.

A singular rune was enough to kill a heroic spirit if they weren’t careful enough. A dozen could kill an army… the amount they inscribed, just barely was affecting Surtr… but they were affecting him.

With his magical defense down, eventually he would begin cracking – only his mask remaining, alongside Ophelia – unconscious but alive, thanks for being caught by Skadi’s magic. While she was angry, tired and unsure on how to proceed, she did not wish Ophelia death.

With that done… Surtr was no more and there was just one issue left…

* * *

In the end, as everyone would gather and some of the Valkyries would come to join Skadi and gawk over Brynhildr, she managed to get answers out of Ritsuka and Ruler, demanding to know what they planned to do. Upon hearing “saving pan-human order”, she would interrupt them, saying she found fight for her land, to the death if need be.

It was an obvious choice for her, even if she knew it was a foolish one. After all, who better knew the state of the world, then her… yet, it was her world... 

It was an open challenge, one they would all take. Skadi and Valkyries, against the side of Chaldea, who would win in the end. It did not deviate much from what was supposed to happen, according to the notes Ruler looked over – just as in proper history, Scathach Skadi challenged them to a duel after defeating Surtr, despite being low on magical energy.

She had her reasons… and while she could have waited to regain her energy and potentially win, it was not an option she settled down for.

The only thing she did after that, was complain about how unfair it was… for them to be guided by Allfather, after he never lifted a finger to help guide her through all of the countless years she spent ruling over this realm.

The complaint which initially confused a few people, until Ruler explained the ravens they saw, belonged to Odyn, the Allfather. With Skadi’s defeat however, there was only one thing left – destruction of Nordic Quixotic Tree, which proved to be of no challenge, as it didn’t have the time to mature just yet.

With that done, everyone apart from heroic spirits summoned into the Lostbelt would board Shadow Border and head towards the Wandering Sea, their mission here was done, now it was just the matter of meeting up with Sion and establishing yet another branch of Chaldea… this time in this world.

The mood was somber, despite the victory. After all, while they didn’t interact much… both Ritsuka and Mash wondered, was it all worth it in the end… as a girl somewhere would take one last hop, without any care in the world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, with me doing more art I am a fair bit more busy now then I used to be, which is ugh... it shows. I still want to finish this story tho, so updates will happen. If you want, you can follow me on twitter to see some of my art, tho! https://twitter.com/daawnily
> 
> But yeah, on the chapter - I am not good with adventure like stuff, especially when it is based on a good written material, like Lostbelt 2. You do need to know a fair bit about Lostbelt 2 to make head or tails of this chapter, but this and the previous chapters are mostly optional. Next week however is going to be return to normal program, with Katarina returning home with everyone after setting up some stuff in Lousabre. So! Until next time~


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